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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29745261">Introduction to Defying Expectations</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/OliviaSprite/pseuds/OliviaSprite'>OliviaSprite</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Community (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Also mushy Jeff, Annie wanting to prove she's a woman goddammit, Because we all know their my favourite kinds of Jeff, Britta being the worst, Established Relationship, F/M, Protective Jeff, Secret Relationship, Sneaking Around, go on a trip together, jealous jeff, the study group - Freeform, they gatecrash Jeff and Annie basically</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 21:54:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>19,844</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29745261</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/OliviaSprite/pseuds/OliviaSprite</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Well, I’ve got a little surprise for you,” Jeff smiled at Annie. “I booked us a weekend away in the Rustic Cabin Centre in the Greendale wood,” He said.<br/>Okay, so Britta was a bit surprised by that. She’d never gotten a weekend away with Jeff, she’d barely gotten to actually sleep in his bed. Maybe this wasn’t just a sex thing-<br/>“So, plenty of time for sleep ins and being naked without anyone to catch us,” Jeff smirked - and nope, just a sex thing.<br/>“Aw Jeff that’s-“ But Britta had to stop listening. She was furious. She was incensed. She couldn’t believe Jeff would just give into his urges like this, and potentially damage Annie and in turn, the group.<br/>And now they were going to sneak off this weekend. How long had they been sneaking around? How long had they been lying to the group?<br/>Well, she’d have to see about that. </p><p> </p><p>Jeff and Annie mid season four are in an established relationship and trying their best to keep it private - and doing a rubbish job at it. So rubbish, that the whole study group manages to gatecrash their weekend away.<br/>POV’s switch between Jeff and Annie but also occasionally Britta</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Annie Edison/Jeff Winger, Troy Barnes/Britta Perry</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>89</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Introduction to Defying Expectations</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>It’s been a while! I’ve had big life stuff happening lately but in amongst all that, this was born. I didn’t even plan it, it just came tumbling out one day but I’m quite happy with how it turned out. As always, kudos and comments give me little bursts of joy in a world where it’s hard to be joyful right now. I hope this story improves your day wherever you are - stay safe and happy reading!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>One thing that Annie had not expected when she’d started seeing Jeff (and there had been a lot of things she’d expected - not all necessarily good), was for him to be mushy during sex.<br/>
She’d heard stories from Britta, about him not making eye contact, about how quickly she’d had to leave afterwards, about how he’d never let her borrow clothes or cuddle.<br/>
But he was the opposite with her - a fact that made her feel very very good.<br/>
“God, Annie, you’re…” He gasped, towering over her and gripping the sheets beside her head. “You’re <em>everything</em>, baby,” he panted, kissing down her neck.<br/>
“Jeff,” She whimpered, her nails digging into his shoulders.<br/>
“I could be inside you forever,” he moaned, leaning their foreheads together and directly looking into her eyes.<br/>
“Jeff,” She panted, because what else could she say in response to that?<br/>
Afterwards, he was collapsed beside her, pressing kisses to her shoulder, and pulling her closer, as close as possible. She smiled fondly, turning to look at him. Their eyes met and her heart skipped from the way he was looking at her.<br/>
“Hey you,” She whispered.<br/>
“Hey yourself,” He chuckled. “God, we’re good at that,” He hummed.<br/>
“I always knew we would be,” Annie shrugged with a cheeky smile. “I thought about it a lot.”<br/>
“Oh please tell me more,” Jeff leered, wiggling his eyebrows. She swatted his chest.<br/>
“Not like that, that was only sometimes, I more just figured that…we’re such a good team, so it makes sense that we’d be good at it,” Annie explained. Jeff nodded, dropping another kiss to her collarbone.<br/>
“We’re such a good team,” He smiled fondly, kissing her lips. Annie smiled up at him.<br/>
“The best team,” She breathed.<br/>
Yep, he was definitely defying her expectations.<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
 <br/>
<br/>
Britta sighed as she walked towards the study room. She’d slept at Troy’s last night, and while Abed knew they were sleeping together now, sometimes it was just easier to leave before Abed woke up, so he didn’t have to adjust his morning routine to account for her presence.<br/>
She walked past the shelves of books and looked inside the study room, her eyes widening at the sight before her.<br/>
She ducked between the shelves, looking between the blinds at Annie in Jeff’s lap, giggling and kissing him.<br/>
Holy fuck.<br/>
A part of her wanted to storm in there, demanding for Jeff to get his hands off Annie - this was a huge mistake, he was going to ruin her. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing in front of her. She knew they had a bit of tension, and Annie had a little crush on Jeff, but she’d thought it was harmless, she’d thought they were never going to act on it, that the feelings weren’t strong enough to actually do anything about. Annie was thirteen years younger than Jeff forgodsakes. She’d thought Jeff had better sense - but no, he was even more disgusting than Britta had assumed.<br/>
“Anyone could be here soon,” Annie giggled, not listening to Jeff’s protests as she climbed off his lap. Oh great, so he’d even convinced Annie to keep it a secret - that would be the opposite of what she wanted.<br/>
“No one gets here this early, that’s the point,” Jeff chuckled. “I only get here this early because you’re very convincing when you want to be,” He smirked, and Britta gagged. “We can sleep in all weekend though,” Jeff added.<br/>
“You know that Abed and Troy will notice if I don’t get out of bed on time, and if you come out of my room,” Annie chuckled.<br/>
“Well, I’ve got a little surprise for you,” Jeff smiled at Annie. “I booked us a weekend away in the Rustic Cabin Centre in the Greendale wood,” He said. <br/>
Okay, so Britta was a bit surprised by that. She’d never gotten a weekend away with Jeff, she’d barely gotten to actually sleep in his bed. Maybe this wasn’t just a sex thing-<br/>
“So, plenty of time for sleep ins and being naked without anyone to catch us,” Jeff smirked - and nope, just a sex thing.<br/>
“Aw Jeff that’s-“ But Britta had to stop listening. She was furious. She was incensed. She couldn’t believe Jeff would just give into his urges like this, and potentially damage Annie and in turn, the group.<br/>
And now they were going to sneak off this weekend. How long had they been sneaking around? How long had they been lying to the group?<br/>
Well, she’d have to see about that.<br/>
She marched into the study room, and couldn’t help but smirk a little when she noticed the alarm on Annie and Jeff’s faces.<br/>
“Morning!” She chirped, maybe a touch over the top.<br/>
“Hey uh…why are you here so early?” Jeff asked, trying to come off casual obviously.<br/>
“Oh I wanted to let Troy and Abed have their morning together, decided to come in and study,” Britta shrugged. “Cornwallis is being real intense about history after all,” She added. “What are you two doing here so early?” She asked.<br/>
Annie’s face was bright pink. “Same, same, just here to study,” She nodded.<br/>
“Jeff, you’re here to study?” Britta asked, raising an eyebrow.<br/>
“Annie made me be here, making sure I don’t tank my section in the essay,” Jeff lied a lot easier than Annie, which only made Britta more angry that he was manipulating her and influencing her.<br/>
It didn’t take long for the rest of the study group to arrive, and while they were all talking Britta looked up the Rustic Cabin Centre - it wasn’t unaffordable, Jeff clearly hadn’t gone too far out of his budget.<br/>
She watched the two for the day, seeing how they didn’t really act any different. She caught them looking at each other once at lunch, and another time during history, but it wasn’t anything they didn’t usually do - and suddenly Britta was wondering if all those looks had meant something all along.<br/>
She wasn’t going to let Jeff get away with this. She was going to do better at being a female friend - she had to look out for Annie, and Jeff wasn’t good for Annie.<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
Jeff could say a lot of good things about his life right now. He was in his last year of community college; one step closer to his old life, his rent had been reduced because his landlord had come into some money and was feeling generous, and his new skincare routine was making him glow.<br/>
Oh and also he was finally with Annie.<br/>
He hadn’t even intended for things to develop the way they had. He’d been fighting with himself for months, possibly years, trying to keep his feelings for Annie at bay. Trying to chalk it up to a ‘she’s like a little sister, I just want to make sure she’s okay, I just want to protect her’ but it had gone out the window the night at the hotel during the Inspector Spacetime convention.<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<em>Jeff hummed at the cool wind on his face as he and Annie walked down the street from the hotel. They’d decided the hotel bar put a bit too much attention on them, with staff members glaring at Jeff and sending Annie looks of concern or pity. There was a strip of bars nearby and they decided they’d go check it out. Annie had suggested they invite everyone else along, but Jeff had quickly shot it down, pointing out that she’d been the one who’d wanted to spend one on one time together. Annie had looked pleased about that, and Jeff had had one too many scotch’s to be too worried about being alone with Annie.</em><br/>
<em>They stopped into a bar that was meant to look like a lodge, it fit in perfectly with the snow that was lightly dusted on the ground, and the ski slopes in the background. Jeff pushed open the door for Annie, who smiled warmly at him as she slipped past. She was a little tipsy, her voice was a touch louder than normal, and her cheeks were pink. It was adorable.</em><br/>
<em>The bar had a small dance floor where people were dancing to the music, and it was relatively busy being a Saturday night in the middle of skiing season. Jeff helped Annie take off her winter coat, hanging it on the coat rack by the door next to his own. His eyes widened a little at the little dress she had on underneath. They’d had to go up to their rooms to get their coats before they left, and Annie must have changed when they did. It wasn’t anything incredibly scandalous, but by Annie standards it was pretty racy. It was low cut just like a lot of her day dresses, but it had a black mesh lining that became long sleeves, with a cut out the back. The rest of the dress was a velvet material, which clung to her body and came to her knees. She’d paired it with her usual flats which hinted at the typical Annie he’d known only 30 seconds ago. He swallowed thickly and his mind was screaming DANGER! ALCOHOL ON BOARD. INTIMATE BAR. ALONE. ALONE. ANNIE DRESSED IN A SEXY DRESS. But he couldn’t seem to listen to it properly as he looked her up and down. Annie noticed his gaze and raised an eyebrow when his eyes met hers.</em><br/>
<em>“You changed,” He said dumbly. Annie chuckled.</em><br/>
<em>“Yeah well, wanted to look nice for my husband,” She teased.</em><br/>
<em>“Your husband appreciates your effort,” Jeff teased back. And God, this was definitely flirting right? They were officially flirting, and Annie was looking at him with hooded lashes and rosy red lips.</em><br/>
<em>“Another drink?” Annie asked, gesturing to the bar. Jeff cleared his throat and nodded.</em><br/>
<em>He went up to the bar while Annie went to find them a table or a booth, ordering himself a scotch and another appletini. His mind was reeling, not only from how gorgeous Annie looked, but from how easily he was ordering an appletini now, how easily he’d accepted her calling him her husband, even as a joke, but how easily he’d not argued with the waiter at the hotel when he’d professed how beautiful his wife was -</em><br/>
<em>He could only chalk it up to the new environment. They were outside the harsh, judgemental world of Greendale Community College - AKA the study group - and they were in new territory. A romantic snowy town, a shared hotel room, alcohol warming their system; of course they were being flirty and daring.</em><br/>
<em>Jeff took a hold of their drinks and moved around the bar trying to find Annie. He found her towards the back, and his grip on the glasses tightened when he saw three guys sitting in the booth with her. Jeff had a moment of jealousy, concerned that Annie had sat down with them, flirted with them, showed off her body in that gorgeous dress. But then Jeff realised that Annie was sitting towards the end of the booth, and she had her arms crossed across her body, and he wasn’t jealous any longer, instead, he just wanted to protect her and smack any guy who made his Annie look like that.</em><br/>
<em>He was choosing not to think about how it was verging on possession too.</em><br/>
<em>“Hey,” Jeff said, arriving at her side and scooting in next to her. He immediately put an arm around her shoulder and his worry peaked when she shrunk into his side just as quickly. “Everything alright?” He asked, his eyes flicking over to the three men sitting across from her.</em><br/>
<em>“Yeah man, we were just having a chat with the lady here,” One of the men spoke up.<br/>
“</em><em>The lady is taken, beat it,” Jeff spat, his hackles rising already.</em><br/>
<em>“Woah, woah, no need to be rude,” Another one of them chuckled, as if they were discussing the weather or something equally trivial.</em><br/>
<em>“Annie were these guys being rude to you?” Jeff asked, looking down at her. Annie seemed to gain back a bit more of her usual confidence now that he was here, now that she felt safer.</em><br/>
<em>“Yes, I was sat here waiting for you and they sat down and insisted I join them back in their hotel room,” She snapped, glaring at the men. “Even though I said no multiple times,” she added, which was all the explanation Jeff needed. He stood back up and towered over the men, mentally working out that yes, he’d be taller than all of them even if they were standing.</em><br/>
<em>“Get out,” He growled.</em><br/>
<em>The guys looked between the three of them and then shrugged and stood up. The last one to slide out looked Jeff up and down and then looked back to Annie.</em><br/>
<em>“You really shouldn’t bring your Dad to a bar,” He smirked, and all the guys laughed and walked away. Jeff seethed and was tempted to go after them but he felt Annie tug at his sleeve.</em><br/>
<em>“Forget them,” She smiled softly, pulling him down. Jeff went easily, sitting back down next to her.</em><br/>
<em>“You’ve gotten to play my wife a few times today,” Jeff chuckled softly. “Are you okay?” He asked.</em><br/>
<em>Annie smiled and nodded.</em><br/>
<em>“Yeah, thank you, I thought I’d be able to handle stuff like that-“</em><br/>
<em>“You did, and you totally could have kicked their asses, but it’s also okay to feel safer with me around,” He pointed out.</em><br/>
<em>“What because you’re a man?” Annie smirked, taking a sip of her Appletini.</em><br/>
<em>“Calm down Britta,” Jeff poked her side. “No, safety in numbers. It would be the same if Shirley was here, or Britta, or Abed or Troy,” He listed. “It’s always better to have support, why do you think all three of those guys sat down? Would have been more vulnerable if only one of them came to hit on you,” He explained. Annie smiled fondly and nodded.</em><br/>
<em>“Thank you for putting your jealousy to good use,” She teased. Jeff shook his head.</em><br/>
<em>“I wasn’t jealous, more like protective,” He argued.</em><br/>
<em>“Like in a dad way?” Annie cringed.</em><br/>
<em>“God no,” Jeff said. “Like in a…” he trailed off, looking at her. And it wasn’t even about the dress, or the intimate setting anymore, not really. The truth was it was Annie, and anywhere she was was where he wanted to be. And he’d do anything for her, and protect her from anything, and look after her if she needed it and this was starting to sound like wedding vows.</em><br/>
<em>“You having a major realisation?” Annie asked with a wry smile, putting her drink down. Jeff couldn’t form words so he just nodded. “Finally,” She breathed, and then they were meeting in the middle and Jeff had his hand on her hip and Annie had her hands on his chest as they kissed, deeply. And Jeff had expected to have his brain screaming at him, he’d expected the world to scream at him too for putting his hands on her.</em><br/>
<em>But being with Annie just brought him peace.</em><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
They hadn’t even had sex that night and Jeff hadn’t been complaining. They’d made out in his bed, and they’d put a label on it in a very<em> them</em> way.<br/>
<br/>
<em>“I’m not going to see anyone else,” Jeff whispered, kissing along her shoulder as the moonlight shone across it.</em><br/>
<em>“Me neither,” Annie breathed. “Calling you my boyfriend sounds weird though,” she confessed.</em><br/>
<em>“I know, makes us sound fourteen,” Jeff chuckled. “How about partner?” He suggested.</em><br/>
<em>“Better half?”</em><br/>
<em>“Gross, no,”</em><br/>
<em>“Ball and chain,”</em><br/>
<em>“Britta will hate us,”</em><br/>
<em>“She’s going to hate us anyway.”</em><br/>
<em>“We’re not going to tell them yet right?” Jeff asked, meeting her eyes. Annie agreed with a nod.</em><br/>
<em>“We haven’t even worked out what we’re calling each other, no reason to tell them yet,” Annie pointed out. Jeff nodded.</em><br/>
<em>“You’re so smart, come here,” he’d purred, silencing the conversation further with his lips on hers.</em><br/>
<br/>
No, the sex had come about a week later, after their first official date, and she’d come back to his apartment and God, wow, Jeff had had a lot of sex but sex with Annie was something else.<br/>
Maybe the movies had been right when they said it was better with someone you care about.<br/>
And now, on month three, with his graduation only a few months away, he felt like their relationship was very healthy. And they were doing a very good job at hiding it. Sure, he’d been a bit protective when a certain few German students prodded at Annie a bit too much; and yes he’d very easily folded when she’d fluttered her eyelashes at him and asked him to distract Pierce while she and the Dean worked to recruit that rich student; and yes they’d had a massive fight because Annie had revealed she’d let Cornwallis touch her feet to get a good grade (in which Jeff had very nearly gone to his classroom and punched him) - but, they’d gotten good at communicating, and in his mind Annie deserved the best, and he was going to give her as close as possible to that.<br/>
Jeff felt a spring in his step as he walked down the hall on Friday, ready to pick up Annie from her apartment and take her down to the cabin he’d rented. It was going to be wonderful. He wasn’t ready to tell the group yet, and neither was she, and sneaking around was fun in some ways (like when she’d let him go down on her in his car, or when they’d make out in the study room), but he was also looking forward to being able to just do normal things like walk around the town holding her hand, and fall asleep next to her rather than bidding her goodnight so she’d get back to her apartment without arising suspicion from Troy and Abed.<br/>
Walking around the cabin naked with only a fire to heat them up was also a bonus.<br/>
The cabin was part of her birthday present. He had a few other things to give her on her actual birthday next week, but he knew their friends would want to celebrate all together, so he was taking the opportunity now to celebrate just the two of them.<br/>
“Any plans for the weekend Jeff?” Britta sidled up next to him. “Even know her name?” She asked before he could answer.<br/>
“Wow okay, you’re being very aggressive today,” He chuckled, looking down at his phone in lieu of an answer.<br/>
“Just thinking about seeing if the study group wants to hang out, before Christmas break you know?” She hummed. “And historically, you’re the hardest to pin down-“<br/>
“I’m busy,” He interrupted.<br/>
“You sure about that? Now’s your chance to be honest,” She pestered. Jeff looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Britta didn’t make sense to him at the best of times, but it seemed like she was hinting at something. He just couldn’t figure out what.<br/>
“Yeah, I’m sure, I’m busy, besides we’ll all get together for Annie’s birthday,” he nodded. Britta sighed, as if she was disappointed.<br/>
“Well, have fun Winger,” She said, walking away. Jeff watched her go with a frown on his face, shaking his head and walking off campus. He knew he should probably be concerned, but when Annie texted him about what she should pack for the trip, he found all his worries stayed behind on campus.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p><br/>
The cabin itself was roughly two hours away. They wouldn’t arrive until sunset, but that was fine, Jeff had packed road trip snacks (mainly for Annie), and he’d already packed marshmallows for roasting on the fire, and a fresh vegetable pasta bake with cheese sauce that he’d cooked the night before.<br/>
Sue him, it was a weekend away, and Annie seemed to get a kick out of when he broke his diet a little bit for her.<br/>
“Wow Jeff this is…” Annie trailed off as she looked up at the reception building as he pulled his car in. He smiled and reached over and squeezed her knee.<br/>
“You’re happy?” He asked, parking the car. Annie looked back at him with one of her wide, beaming smiles and nodded, leaning over to kiss him. Jeff hummed into her mouth, his heart hammering in his chest.<br/>
<em>Oh God I’ve got to tell her, I-</em><br/>
“I’ll go check us in,” Jeff hummed, pulling back. “You want to start grabbing our stuff?” He asked. Annie nodded and pecked his lips once more before climbing out of the car. Jeff did the same, walking up to the reception. He couldn’t help having a little smile on his lips as he walked into the building-<br/>
“Jeffrey!”<br/>
And Jeff froze as he attached that overly chirpy voice to Shirley, who was standing with Pierce, Abed, Troy and Britta - who looked very pleased with herself - at the reception, all of them surrounded by suitcases.<br/>
Fuck.<br/>
“Hey…guys…” Jeff stammered. “What are you all doing here-“<br/>
“Where’s Annie? Britta said she was coming with you?” Abed asked, looking between Jeff and the door for reception.<br/>
“She’s down at the car getting our stuff…Britta, can you come with me to help her?” Jeff practically hissed out. Britta smirked, seeming to have assumed he’d try and get her alone. She walked over and stepped out of reception with him.<br/>
“What the hell? How did you know I was coming here?” Jeff growled, crossing his arms and staring at her. She seemed to falter for a minute.<br/>
“The Dean!” She exclaimed. “He mentioned it to me when he was reading your emails again…good thing I got him off the scent…you should be thanking me!” She nodded. Jeff rolled his eyes. As much as this trip was basically already ruined, he was thankful for the lack of the Dean hanging around.<br/>
“So this is why you were pestering me?” Jeff asked. “About my weekend plans?”<br/>
“I wanted to know why you and Annie are off on a weekend trip together?” She asked, raising her eyebrows. Jeff’s mind scampered, trying to think of an explanation.<br/>
“We didn’t get to ski back when we all went to Inspector Spacetime,” Jeff lied, shrugging. “It was a last minute thing.”<br/>
“And you booked a double bed for the two of you-“<br/>
“Because they were booked out of everything else.”<br/>
“The super-size cabin is available,” Britta pointed out.<br/>
“That cabin sleeps like 5 people, Annie and I couldn’t afford a place that big with just us,” He explained.<br/>
“Oh well good thing all of us have come to stay and we even moved the two of you into the cabin with us,” Britta smiled and Jeff’s stomach sank.<br/>
“Britta-“<br/>
“You should be relieved, wouldn’t want to give in and - as Shirley would say - ruin Annie’s innocence,” Britta smirked. She patted Jeff’s chest. “Now, you go back inside and help them check in, I’m sure it’s chaos in there right now, and I’ll go help Annie,” She smiled, and before Jeff could argue she scrambled off to Jeff’s car. Jeff cursed, rubbing his face, before going inside to reception, slamming the door behind him.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
The super size cabin was really more of a house. It had five bedrooms which included one bedroom with a double bed that connected to a kid’s room with a bunk bed in it; two rooms with two twin beds in each; and one master bedroom with a huge king size bed, a fireplace and a walk in robe.<br/>
Which currently, the group was fighting over who got to have.<br/>
“I’m the oldest!” Pierce bellowed.<br/>
“Which means you can’t enjoy nice things as much, I’m a married woman, I should get the private room, I’m always having to share my space with a husband and three kids!” Shirley argued.<br/>
“That’s a choice you made when you condemned yourself to exactly what the patriarchy wanted for you, I should get the room because it was my idea to come up here!” Britta yelled.<br/>
“Technically it was my idea to come up here,” Jeff began but Britta interrupted him.<br/>
“<em>You</em> are not getting that room,” She spat.<br/>
“Why not!?” Jeff yelled, hands on his hips.<br/>
“Because that would be a bit too on the nose in our narrative to make you the official leader of the group by giving you the best bedroom,” Abed explained. “I have a solution, no one gets the room,” He said.<br/>
“What? How does that work?” Annie asked, crossing her arms. Her and Jeff hadn’t had a moment alone since they’d arrived. They’d barely had time to make sad-eye-contact about their weekend plans being ruined as everyone had embraced Annie at reception, unbeknownst that they’d ruined her weekend.<br/>
“We share the other rooms,” Abed nodded. “Britta and Troy, as the only couple, get the double bedroom-“<br/>
“Yes! I knew this would come in handy!” Troy fist bumped Britta, who smiled triumphantly.<br/>
“And I’ll sleep in the connecting kids room in the bunk bed, since I’m used to it and narratively I’m sort of the third wheel, or kid to their relationship, kind of like Joey to Chandler and Monica in Friends,” Abed continued. Jeff snorted as Britta’s face fell a bit at that comparison.<br/>
“Jeff and Shirley can share one twin room, and Pierce and Annie can share the other twin room, leaving the master bedroom empty and fair for everyone,” Abed nodded as he finished.<br/>
“Why am I sharing with Pierce?” Annie asked and Jeff knew this was her round about way of trying to get herself to share with Jeff. He hadn’t thought of a subtle way of asking yet, so he was relieved she was onto it.<br/>
“Because Shirley and Pierce will fight like crazy if they have to share, and Pierce has stated multiple times you’re his favourite and he’s less likely to make sexual advances towards you, and Jeff and Shirley get along well when left in private,” Abed explained. Jeff finally met Annie’s eyes. There was no way they could argue that they wanted to share without serious questions being raised.<br/>
“Sounds good to me,” Britta nodded, picking up her bag from the living room floor. “Let’s all go unpack then come back down here for dinner,” She instructed, and Troy and Abed followed her up the stairs to the hallway with all the bedrooms.<br/>
Jeff begrudgingly followed, sidling up next to Annie at the back of the group and letting his hand brush hers. He saw her smile to the ground, and even that little touch was alleviating some of the anguish he felt at not being able to touch her at all when this weekend he’d planned to involve a lot of touching.<br/>
Jeff and Shirley broke off into one of the twin bedrooms, and Jeff winced as he looked at the size of the bed. He knew for a fact his feet were going to hang off the edge.<br/>
He watched as Shirley immediately began to unpack, putting all her clothes away and putting a small model of Jesus on the cross next to her bedside.<br/>
“You came prepared,” Jeff commented, unpacking a few of his shirts and hanging them to make sure there were no creases.<br/>
“I like to feel at home when I’m away,” Shirley nodded.<br/>
“Don’t you want to let loose a little when you’re on a weekend away? Not feel like Jesus is watching you? I was going to eat carbs this weekend and everything,” He pointed out.<br/>
“Jesus is always watching whether I bring his statue or not,” Shirley chirped cheerily, even though Jeff found that sentence inherently creepy. However, her voice dropped an octave when she walked over to the closet to hang her clothes. “Jeffrey did you use all the hangers? We have to share!” She cried.<br/>
“My shirts are $200 each Shirley, I can’t have them creased in a drawer,” Jeff implored.<br/>
“Shirley,” Annie’s voice in their doorway cut off their argument before it could really get started, and Jeff couldn’t help but beam at her. It was insane, and he knew he’d never admit it outloud, but god he’d missed her.<br/>
“Pierce is annoyed that Abed insinuated he wouldn’t make a sexual advancement towards me, and now I think he wants to try,” Annie explained, and both Shirley and Jeff began to charge towards the door. “Oh, I think Shirley can handle Pierce, Jeff,” Annie added quickly, throwing him a quick look. Jeff bit back his need to go and yell at Pierce for even thinking he could make a move on Annie, and nodded tightly. Shirley had already charged off down the hall, so Annie quickly shut the door behind her then turned back to Jeff. Jeff wasted no time pressing her against the door and kissing her deeply, gripping her hips as her hands made a fist in his shirt.<br/>
“You’re mine,” He raggedly breathed out against her lips.<br/>
“You’re not seriously jealous of Pierce?” She asked, but Jeff didn’t answer, too busy kissing down her neck. “You have a problem,” She giggled softly, sliding her hands up into his hair.<br/>
“Yeah, my problem is that our weekend just got seriously hijacked,” He grumbled, slowly pulling back in case Shirley came back down the hall - and then he crossed his arms because he was angry that he even had to worry about that. “I just wanted alone time with you this weekend-“ He sighed.<br/>
“I know, so did I,” Annie murmured, reaching forward to untangle his arms and stepping into his embrace instead, resting her head on his chest. Jeff rested his chin on her head and sighed.<br/>
“This was meant to be a birthday present for you,” He murmured. Annie looked up at him with big wide eyes, smiling a little. “My birthday isn’t until next week-“<br/>
“Yeah and I’ll have to share you then,” Jeff pointed out. Annie sighed, stroking her hand over his chest.<br/>
“Maybe we need to stop sneaking around and just tell them,” She suggested. Jeff felt his stomach curl at the idea, but he also was so sick of having to hide how he felt about Annie. He’d been putting off his feelings for years, and now that he was actually dating her, his feelings for her were bursting at the seams.<br/>
But then his anxiety gripped at him, reminding him he’d definitely lose all his friends.<br/>
“What if we hold off until my graduation?” He suggested. “That way I’m off campus after that, we’ll have been dating for six months, so we can prove we’re serious, and then they don’t have to put up with us being unbearably awesome at the school,” He smirked. Annie rolled her eyes fondly, and nodded.<br/>
“Okay, graduation it is,” She nodded. She pouted a little. “This still sucks though, I had a gift for you too,” she sighed. Jeff raised an eyebrow.<br/>
“Why don’t you just give it to me later?” He asked. Annie smiled in that sexy little mischievous way he’d come to know recently.<br/>
“Well you have to unwrap me to see it,” She practically purred, moving one of his hands so it slid up her back and could feel the boning of a corset under her day dress. Jeff groaned and rested his forehead against hers.<br/>
“Annie,” he whined softly. “You’re going to kill me.”<br/>
“Meet me in the empty room tonight, midnight okay?” She purred.<br/>
“Mmmm maybe I’ll just have to resist you if you’re going to be such a tease,” He breathed. Annie rolled her eyes fondly again, stepping out of his arms and going to the door as she heard Shirley coming back down the hall.<br/>
“Please Jeff, you always come when I ask,” She winked, before stepping out of the room just as Shirley stepped back in. “Everything okay?” Annie chirped, and the turn around back to her more innocent self was so sudden, Jeff felt like his head was spinning.<br/>
“Pierce will leave you alone,” Shirley nodded, and Jeff walked past them.<br/>
“Gunna have a shower,” He murmured, because God, he was going to have to calm down if he wasn’t going to get caught before midnight.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
Annie could feel Jeff’s eyes on her as she helped Shirley prepare dinner. It made her feel sexy. She couldn’t wait to see Jeff’s reaction to what was on underneath. It was something she was happy about in her relationship with Jeff. At first, he’d been really hesitant about sexual situations with her, despite the two of them having sexual tension for years now. Annie had been nervous that if they slept together all the appeal would fade for both of them, like him and Britta, but she’d also wanted to get it over with for that reason. Jeff hadn’t been as keen at first. They’d had their first date at a beautiful restaurant that Jeff had picked, about an hour out of town so there was no chance they’d get caught, and then afterwards he’d taken her back to his place. They’d had a few drinks, and sat together on the couch, and Annie had thought she’d been being obvious all night where she’d wanted the night to go, but Jeff seemed to be resisting her at every turn.<br/>
<br/>
<em>"Something on your mind?" Annie hummed, sliding her foot forward to rub against Jeff’s shin. Her gaze was coy, with a slightly darkened look in her eye, and she occasionally poked her tongue out slightly to stroke over her bottom lip.</em><br/>
<em>"You're always on my mind Annie," Jeff chuckled, his words responding to Annie's flirty gaze. As if she hadn't been expecting a flirtatious response, Annie's cheeks went red. She couldn’t help it when Jeff said things like that. He’d been more open tonight than he ever had, and it was quite an adjustment to his usual way of hiding everything he felt about her.</em><br/>
<em>"What exactly were you thinking about?" She murmured, leaning closer to him. Jeff licked his lips.</em><br/>
<em>"How good you felt in my hands on the ski trip,” He confessed, stroking one hand over her knee. Annie’s heart was pounding. She was going to do this, she knew that while Jeff may be being more forward, she might have to do the final push to get them where she wanted to go. Annie slid into his lap, straddling him and stroking his chest as she connected their mouths hotly.</em><br/>
<em>He put his scotch down on the side table beside the couch, wrapping his hands around Annie's hips. She loved his hands, they were so big, with such long fingers that could wrap around whatever he grabbed onto. She gently ground her hips down into his, and revelled in the way his breath hitched.</em><br/>
<em>"Annie-"</em><br/>
<em>"Jeff, why are you-" She was breathless, raising her eyebrows at him as he pulled back just like he had done at the ski trip when they’d got back from the bar, insisting they should go on a date first.</em><br/>
<em>"It's a lot of pressure," he confessed. Annie’s eyebrows pressed together in confusion. What pressure? Sure, they had their friendship but surely any chance of going back to that after making out a lot and going on a date was shot anyway. Then her face softened as she realised what he meant.</em><br/>
<em>"Jeff, I'm not a virgin...I've slept with a few guys,” She explained. Jeff's hands tightened around her.</em><br/>
<em>"Who?" He asked, and Annie could almost laugh at how hard he was trying to sound mildly curious rather than infuriatingly jealous.</em><br/>
<em>"Do you really want to know?" She asked with a sigh.</em><br/>
<em>"Sure," he mumbled, still feigning casualty. Annie sighed once more, climbing off his lap and sitting back down in her position beside him on the couch.</em><br/>
<em>"Well there was my boyfriend in high school who turned out to be gay, so that was a harrowing experience for me," she mumbled. Jeff nodded, pretending he hadn't already got all the sordid details about that during one of his gossip sessions with Shirley - Annie knew he knew, but she chose not to mention that. "And then Vaughn, I sort of count him as my proper first time, since it was the first time I was with someone who kind of knew what he was doing," She explained. Jeff's nails dug into his own thigh and she reached forward and stroked over his wrist to calm him down.</em><br/>
<em>"I didn't know you had a boyfriend after Vaughn," He murmured. Annie bit her bottom lip with a sigh.</em><br/>
<em>"The third guy was a uh...one night stand," She shrugged. Jeff raised an eyebrow.</em><br/>
<em>"How very un-Annie of you," He chuckled softly, trying to relieve some tension.</em><br/>
<em>"I didn't want it to be," She added and Jeff's eyes widened.</em><br/>
<em>"What do you mean? Did this asshole hurt you?" He practically growled. Annie's eyes widened and she realised how it sounded.</em><br/>
<em>"Oh no, nothing like that, I meant...well, I was hoping it would be more than a one night thing, but apparently he didn't want to get too deeply involved with someone who had beat him at paintball, he had a very fragile ego," she sighed. Jeff frowned, starting to put dots together and Annie braced herself.</em><br/>
<em>"You slept with that big chin guy?" He cried, clearly through with pretending he wasn't incredibly jealous.</em><br/>
<em>"He didn't have that big of a chin," Annie groaned.</em><br/>
<em>"Annie I'm surprised he's able to see his feet past that thing," Jeff said indignantly. Annie rolled her eyes. "Please tell me you didn't sleep with Rich, Annie, I know I asked but I really don't want to-"</em><br/>
<em>"No, no, Rich always said I was too young," Annie insisted and she shook her head as Jeff winced. "The fourth guy was a blind date Britta set me up with, we went on a couple of dates, there wasn't really any spark but I was nervous about senior year, so I slept with him to try and relax," She explained. "Didn't work, he was really bad, but all experience is good experience," she shrugged. Jeff nodded a little, clearly processing this information. "Jeff, those guys were in the past, please don't be mad-"</em><br/>
<em>"I'm not mad at you Annie, I don't have a say in who you sleep with," Jeff promised her, reaching for her hand properly and squeezing. “I’m not going to be that guy, yeah I… get irrationally jealous and protective, but you’re not in trouble for having a sex life, that’s ridiculous,” He insisted. Annie licked her lips.</em><br/>
<em>"The point is Jeff, that you don't need to show me the ropes on this. I know what I like, so far anyway. I know what I don't like, I know what I want to try, I know that I'll be confident enough to tell you all that, there's no pressure," Annie said, stroking her thumb over his hand. Jeff looked down at their joined fingers and nodded slowly again. He looked up and over his shoulder at his bedroom, then he met Annie's eyes.</em><br/>
<br/>
From then on, he hadn’t tried to make decisions for her - at least most of the time, and definitely not when it came to sex. It seemed like having sex had opened the floodgates, and Annie had proven that she was a grown woman, who knew what she wanted, and he’d started treating her like that.<br/>
It made her feel powerful. She’d always known how to get her way when it came to Jeff, it was part of the reason why he hadn’t been very good at hiding his feelings for her - one flutter of her lashes and he was a goner. But now, with sex thrown into the mix, she could really play with him - which was nice because once the sex actually started to happen she tended to become pretty submissive so the element of control at the beginning was good for her.<br/>
“I’ll start serving the pasta bake Jeff made,” Shirley said, stepping out of the kitchen. Annie hummed in response and continued to stir the vegan tomato soup she was making for Britta. She felt a pair of lips press to the back of her neck and she smirked down at the pot.<br/>
“Pierce, didn’t we say we shouldn’t do this in front of the others?” She hummed, knowing jealousy was one of the easiest ways to rile Jeff up, and she already had a head start with the lingerie he couldn’t look at yet, so why not go the full mile? The sex was always even better when Jeff had been building up to it for a while.<br/>
“You’re not funny,” Jeff growled softly, turning her around. She smiled up at him and looped her arms around his neck. “Especially when all I can do is think about what you’ve got on under there, and all the surfaces we could be doing it on if we were alone,” He pouted. Annie mimicked his pout then leaned up and kissed his lips. “I don’t need to think about you sleeping with <em>Pierce</em>,” he groaned.<br/>
“I would never,” Annie promised, stroking his cheek.<br/>
“Let’s just leave,” Jeff sighed. “Sneak out in the night.”<br/>
“Don’t you think they’d figure something out if we both left together?” She pointed out.<br/>
“We can just say you got sick and I offered to take you back home,” He explained.<br/>
“Jeff I’m surprised they didn’t ask more questions about us coming up here on our own in the first place, the ski trip cover up was a good one but I know for a fact Abed will connect the dots if we go off on our own again,” She sighed. “I want to be alone with you too, but we said we’d wait until graduation, and we can’t spring this on them by them finding out we booked a weekend away, we have to do this carefully,” she reminded him. Jeff groaned but nodded.<br/>
“Why do you have to be so smart and rational?” He sighed. Annie smiled and shrugged.<br/>
“Part of my charm,” She giggled softly. She looked behind him to make sure no one was coming. “How about I give you a little preview?” She hummed. She slowly brought the skirt of her dress further up her thigh, until it was revealed that she wasn’t wearing tights, they were actually thigh high stockings, held up by garters. “That’ll help you get through dinner right?” She purred, letting the skirt slide back down and tracing circles on his chest.<br/>
“No, I think I might actually just stab myself at the table,” He breathed, his eyes hooded. “Then at least I can go to hospital, you can come with me, and we’ll be alone,” He added.<br/>
“Mmm and I could dress as a little nurse for you-“<br/>
“Annie,” he moaned, kissing at her neck. “Who knew you could become even more dangerous?” He chuckled softly. Annie smiled.<br/>
“How’s my soup going Annie?” Britta’s voice echoed down the hall and they sprung apart, Jeff quickly opening the fridge. Just as he was turning back around with a beer in his hand, Britta came into the room. She looked between the two of them then frowned. “What’s going on in here?” She asked. Jeff raised an eyebrow.<br/>
“Nothing, I was getting a beer and Annie is cooking your gross soup,” Jeff shrugged, taking a sip of the beer.<br/>
“Well if keeping animals safe means my soup tastes gross then I don’t want it to taste…good,” Britta stammered, the declaration clearly getting away from her. Jeff smirked and walked past Britta and Annie, letting his hand brush Annie’s hip as he went. Annie smiled to herself at the small touch, going back to stirring the soup and humming softly.<br/>
“You seem chirpy,” Britta commented, leaning against the counter. Annie shrugged.<br/>
“I’m glad you’re all here,” She was only partly lying. Yes, of course, she’d wanted alone time with Jeff, but she couldn’t help but adore time with her friends.<br/>
“Yeah, we saved you from alone time with Winger,” Britta smirked, looking at Annie a little too pointedly for Annie’s liking.<br/>
“Jeff isn’t that bad,” Annie shrugged.<br/>
“You’re biased, you have a hopeless crush on him,” Britta rolled her eyes. Annie frowned, her patience for Britta dwindling.<br/>
“I do not,” She said - technically it wasn’t a crush if they were dating now.<br/>
“Well just remember Annie, guys like Jeff say what they need to to get what they want, which is sex,” Britta prattled. “They think with their dicks and what their dicks want, they don’t have emotions or feelings or-“<br/>
“Britta, do you even like Jeff?” Annie interrupted, trying to keep calm.<br/>
“What?” Britta frowned.<br/>
“Jeff. Like I know you two have this weird, love hate relationship thing, but the way you talk about him sometimes it’s like you don’t even like him,” She said. “Sure, Jeff…has had his fun with a lot of women, but I think it’s a bit far to say he doesn’t have feelings, what about Slater? He was plenty upset when they broke up,” She pointed out. “I think Jeff has more to him then you give him credit for.”<br/>
“I wouldn’t go that far-“<br/>
“You can finish your soup, I need to set the table,” Annie interrupted with a sigh, grabbing a handful of cutlery and storming out of the kitchen. She came down the hall and saw Jeff lounging across the couch next to Pierce, who was desperately trying to insist that his holiday home was much nicer, and if Jeff ever wanted alone male-alpha-bonding time, then they could go up and use it. Jeff shot Annie a bored look, which made Annie giggle a little as she began to lay out the cutlery on the table.<br/>
Soon, they were all sat across the table, but Annie wouldn’t be able to tell you what was really spoken about, because she and Jeff kept playing footsie under the table. Everyone was getting louder and more exuberant as more alcohol was consumed, and Annie was pleasantly tipsy by the time she’d finished her dinner.<br/>
“Let’s play a game!” Britta suddenly declared. Jeff scoffed.<br/>
“Like scrabble?” He asked. “Yeah, no thanks.”<br/>
“No, like…” She trailed off and looked at Abed. “What’s a good game for our narrative right now Abed?” She asked. Abed looked around the table.<br/>
“Hm, a rag-tag group of friends coming together the week before break, in a cabin in the woods, with a campfire-“<br/>
“We haven’t got wood for the fire, we can’t burn it tonight,” Jeff interrupted.<br/>
“Fine, then we’ll go for a classic game of Truth or Dare, and do by the fire games tomorrow,” Abed nodded.<br/>
Jeff groaned. “Are we eighteen year old girls now?” He rolled his eyes.<br/>
“You’d probably like that,” Britta chided. Jeff glared at her but visibly calmed down as Annie stroked her foot over his ankle gently. Annie couldn’t help but smile fondly at that, not caring about Britta’s comment, she was just happy she had that effect on Jeff even in a non-sexual way. She wanted to be there for him, and it made her happy that she could soothe him.<br/>
“Speaking of eighteen year old girls-“ Pierce began but didn’t get far because everyone shouted NO before he could get another word in.<br/>
“Troy, Truth or Dare,” Abed began, and Annie was a little relieved they’d at least gotten away from this conversation.<br/>
“Dare,” Troy shrugged like it was obvious.<br/>
“Hm, I dare you to run outside in the nude,” Abed nodded.<br/>
“What?” Shirley gasped.<br/>
“Typical truth or dare antics,” Abed shrugged. Troy nodded.<br/>
“Happens in every movie where the group of friends play truth or dare,” Troy agreed, standing up and beginning to tug his sweater off.<br/>
“So, we have to do any dare we’re told?” Shirley asked worriedly.<br/>
“No, if you don’t do it you take a drink, same with if you don’t answer your truth,” Abed explained.<br/>
“Well then Troy just take a drink, we don’t want to make Jeff have a big gay breakdown when he sees your dong,” Pierce agreed.<br/>
“No, do it Troy,” Annie encouraged, giggling softly. She noticed Jeff raise an eyebrow at her and she shrugged. “What? There were rumours when we were in school,” she said, face flushing a little.<br/>
“Britta shouldn’t you be apposing this!?” Shirley gasped as Troy began to undo his belt. “Don’t you want to keep your man’s modesty?”<br/>
“Oh no Shirley, because unlike society would have you believe, there is such a thing as a girlfriend who is trusting, and not crazy, and believes in the power of the naked body-“<br/>
She was cut off when everyone began to whoop and cheer as Troy walked to the front door of the cabin in only his briefs. They all stood up and watched as he tugged the briefs down, opened the door and ran outside in the snow, yelling about being in the nude.<br/>
“Rumours were true then,” Annie giggled softly. She felt a jolt up her spine when Jeff pinched her bum from behind her, warning her. Excitement tingled through her body, knowing Jeff was definitely getting jealous enough for a particularly fun round later this evening.<br/>
“Oi, eyes off,” Britta snapped.<br/>
“What happened to trusting?” Shirley raised an eyebrow.<br/>
“Yeah, well, Annie used to have a crush on Troy, it’s different,” Britta shrugged.<br/>
“Emphasis on used to,” Annie pointed out, crossing her arms.<br/>
“Please, Troy could give you a well placed compliment and you’d probably melt again,” Britta smirked.<br/>
“Are you saying I’m easy?” Annie gasped, outraged that Britta was being so, well, mean.<br/>
“I’m saying you want the approval of every and any man and you confuse it with having a crush, it’s really not your fault Annie, you’re just a bi-product of your daddy issues and the pressure society places on women to get men’s approval-“<br/>
Everyone groaned, which effectively shut Britta up.<br/>
“I don’t have daddy issues,” Annie mumbled.<br/>
“You don’t?” Britta snorted, her eyes flicking to Jeff. Annie frowned deeper.<br/>
“Britta take the hint and just stare at your boyfriend’s penis, everyone else is,” Jeff piped up.<br/>
“I’m not, I’m not gay,” Pierce interjected, though his eyes hadn’t strayed from Troy.<br/>
“Good thing you had a man to back you up there,” Britta continued to Annie.<br/>
“Oh my God Britta, just shut up!” Annie yelled, turning around and marching away, just as she heard Troy come back up to the door.<br/>
“Did my penis scare Annie away?” He asked, and Annie couldn’t help but stumble on her ascent up the stairs, both from the alcohol, and the tears in her eyes.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
“What was with you and Annie today?” Troy asked Britta as they started to climb into bed. After Annie’s outburst the Truth or Dare game had been wrapped up quicker than it had begun. Britta could tell everyone was sort of pissed with her, especially Jeff who hadn’t said a word to her after that, and had very quickly gone to his room too.<br/>
Britta didn’t want to be the ones to tell the group that Jeff and Annie were…hooking up, whatever they were calling it, because it certainly wasn’t dating. Britta knew if they were dating, Annie would have wanted them to come out to the group by now, but Jeff had clearly convinced her to keep it a secret. And it made her pissed at him, incredibly pissed at him, but also pissed at Annie for just giving Jeff whatever he wanted. She’d meant what she said, Annie clearly had daddy issues and the need for approval to be hooking up with Jeff when she definitely wanted to be in a relationship, and she wanted her to realise that and save herself as quickly as possible.<br/>
She also just kind of wanted them to get themselves caught, so all hell would break loose just like it had when her and Jeff had been caught.<br/>
It made sense in her head, anyway.<br/>
“It was nothing,” Britta shrugged.<br/>
“You seemed to be pretty annoyed with her,” Troy pointed out. Britta sighed. She knew she couldn’t tell Troy, because Troy would tell Abed, and then when hell did break loose, it would come back to bite her because Shirley and Pierce would get pissed off that they were the only ones who didn’t know. But also, she didn’t want to lie to Troy, she wanted their relationship to remain based on truth.<br/>
“I don’t know, I just want to help her realise that she doesn’t need approval from every guy who pays attention to her,” Britta shrugged, that was mostly the truth.<br/>
“You’re probably going about it the wrong way,” Troy said, pulling her close once they were in bed. Britta sighed.<br/>
“Fine, tomorrow I’ll lay off her a bit,” She agreed, stroking Troy’s arm and resting her head back against the pillow.<br/>
“You really didn’t care that everyone saw me naked today?” He asked. “I would have thought it would annoy you.”<br/>
“Are you planning on sleeping with anyone else tonight?” She asked.<br/>
“No, course not,” He said.<br/>
“Then no, it didn’t annoy me, I meant what I said, I trust you,” She smiled fondly up at him. Troy smiled warmly back and pecked her lips.<br/>
“Thanks,” He murmured. “Reckon Abed will hear us if we…” She trailed off with a little smirk.<br/>
“No I think we can just put the subtitles on Inspector Spacetime,” Troy nodded. Britta stared at him for a moment. “Oh, you mean the other thing,” He said in realisation. “No I’m sure you can keep quiet,” He smirked. Britta chuckled and rolled on top of him.<br/>
“It wasn’t me I was worried about.”<br/>
<br/>
 <br/>
<br/>
Jeff had been antsy all night to get to Annie. He knew he had to wait until midnight like they’d agreed, but after seeing her leave upset, he just wanted to go and check on her. When Shirley came into the room he pretended to be asleep, and lay in the darkness for a while, Britta’s words swirling around his head.<br/>
<em>Did Annie have daddy issues?</em><br/>
<em>Did she just want his approval?</em><br/>
<em>Because she never got the approval of her father?</em><br/>
<em>And he was an older man, who approved of her and showed her affection?</em><br/>
<em>If Troy, or any younger guy, showed interest would she want to go back to him?</em><br/>
The problem was he knew he wouldn’t be able to bring this up to Annie without upsetting her, not to mention it would definitely ruin the mood she’d been setting all night with the teasing to make him jealous, and the hints at her lingerie.<br/>
When midnight came round, he slowly climbed out of bed. He went down to the kitchen to grab a glass of water in case he ran into anyone on the way to Annie, before making his way down to the room. He slowly opened the door and quickly shut it behind him, before looking at the scene before him. Annie had turned on the fireplace, which was electric, unlike the fireplace downstairs, so the room was cast in dim lighting, and her clothes were cast across the arm chair, indicating she was only in her lingerie now. But she was no where to be seen. “Jeff?” Her voice came from behind him, and he turned to see her emerging from the bathroom. She’d fluffed up her hair a little so it had more of a messy look to it, and she’d topped up her lipgloss so her pink lips were shining in the light of the fire.<br/>
And she was wearing a black corset, with matching bra, that had emerald green detailing, and made the curves of her body and the swell of her breasts more emphasised. Her perfect little bum was clad in black, lace panties that was attached to black garters that were holding up her thigh high sheer stockings. The look was pulled together with tall, shiny, black stilettos and Jeff felt his heart stop, and every concern he’d had about Britta’s words short circuited out of his brain as he looked at her.<br/>
“Fuck,” He breathed out. Annie smiled confidently, doing a little spin for him, showing off her pert bum framed in the panties, that were in fact held together on her by a teasing dark green bow at the back.<br/>
“You like it?” She asked, slowly walking towards him. She stroked her fingers up his biceps and Jeff couldn’t meet her eyes because the bra was pushing up her breasts in the most delicious way. “You’re,” Jeff was lost for words, he was so close to getting on his knees and professing a lot of things that would definitely ruin the moment, so instead he just went with, “You’re incredible,” in a very breathless way that probably told her exactly how he felt anyway.<br/>
If she picked up on it, she didn’t let it show, she just continued to smile smugly and giggled adorably. She was sexy and adorable in the way that only his Annie was and Jeff had to touch her now.<br/>
He gripped her hips and gently pushed her back on the bed, taking a deep breath as he looked down at her sprawled out on the bed for him. Sometimes he still couldn’t believe this was real. That he got to see Annie like this, and in so many other ways.<br/>
“God I’ve missed you,” he breathed, leaning down and kissing along her neck, down the valley of her breasts.<br/>
“You’ve seen me all day,” She giggled breathlessly.<br/>
“Not enough, it’s never enough,” He breathed, his stubble scratching over her skin. He never said things like that to a woman in bed, but something about sleeping with Annie brought out every thought that crossed his mind about her - and there were a lot of them.<br/>
“Jeff,” and Jeff could lose it very easily over the way she moaned his name.<br/>
“Besides, had to share you, was like being your friend, and I hate being just your friend,” He breathed, sliding down her body and licking at the inside of her thighs.<br/>
“Hey, I thought I was your best friend,” She pouted. Jeff looked up at her and he wanted to laugh because it was ridiculous that they were having this conversation with his head between her legs.<br/>
“You are, baby,” He breathed fondly, biting and sucking a mark to her thigh, beside the garter. “My favourite person in the whole world,” he whispered.<br/>
“You hate everyone else,” Annie pointed out with a breathlessness to her voice.<br/>
“Which makes it more special that you’re my favourite,” He smirked, before reaching under her to untie the bow at the back of her underwear, inching the tiny, lace fabric down her legs. “Keep everything else on okay?” He breathed. Annie nodded, gripping the sheets as he attached his mouth to her. She couldn’t be as loud as she usually would be, but there was something about seeing her biting so hard on her bottom lip to keep quiet from Jeff’s actions that turned him on anyway. He hitched her legs over his shoulders so those ridiculous heels were dangling in the air and continued lapping at her.<br/>
“Jeff,” She panted. “Want you.”<br/>
“You’ve got me,” He purred between flicks of his tongue.<br/>
“You know what I mean,” She growled out, and he couldn’t help but laugh fondly against her from her tone.<br/>
“Aw, is it not nice being on the receiving end of the teasing?” He smirked, sliding two fingers inside her and curling them immediately.<br/>
“Jeff, please,” She whimpered.<br/>
“Be patient,” He purred, sucking on her to shut her up. It did the trick, she turned her head and whined softly into the pillow. He smiled and then pulled his fingers out, and Annie looked at him with a glare that if looks could kill, would knock him dead. He winked at her and stood up, stripping himself down. Annie eagerly crawled forward to help with his belt, kissing at his lower stomach which made his breath hitch. He grabbed the condom out of his jean pocket and Annie slid it on him. He gasped and gripped her shoulder, and she giggled and kissed his balls with a wink.<br/>
He crawled onto the bed and rolled them so Annie was sat across his lap. “Wanna watch you,” he breathed, stroking his hands down her sides in the corset. Annie nodded and angled herself, bracing one hand on his chest as she slowly sunk down and enveloped him. They both gasped and Annie bit back a whimper that Jeff would gladly give a kidney for if he could hear properly. He tried not to focus on the fact that if they were alone she could be as loud as she wanted, he tried not to think about how their weekend had been taken over by their nosy friends.<br/>
When she began to bounce, it was very easy to not think about them.<br/>
She whimpered quietly every time he hit that sweet spot inside her. He was biting hard on his bottom lip as he watched her hot, lithe body bounce on him, his eyes automatically falling to her breasts that were barely staying in the push up bra - as if Annie really needed any push up. He slid a hand up her side and eased her right breast out, squeezing it and flicking his thumb over the nipple. Annie threw her head back and nodded, silently telling him to keep going.<br/>
When they collapsed beside each other, both spent, sweaty and smiling dazedly, Jeff used the last of his strength to pull her close and kiss her cheek softly.<br/>
“So you like the lingerie?” She whispered gently, trailing her nails up his forearm.<br/>
And suddenly, the words of stupid, god-damn Britta floated back into his head.<br/>
“Was that not clear?” He tried to chuckle breezily but it came out sort of strained. Annie frowned softly, and he knew it wasn’t the right thing to say. “Of course I do, you’re gorgeous, with or without it,” He promised, kissing her shoulder. Annie pulled herself up to lean on her elbow, looking down at him, still frowning. “What? How much more approval do you need?” He chuckled nervously, and yep, that was definitely not the right thing to say. Annie rolled her eyes with a sigh.<br/>
“Britta got in your head, I knew she would,” She mumbled, shaking her head. She looked down at him, and Jeff’s whole body recoiled from how disappointed she looked. This was not the post sex pillow talk he wanted. “C’mon then, out with it, voice your concerns,” She sighed. Jeff licked his lips.<br/>
“I’m not concerned,” He lied, and Annie knew it.<br/>
“Jeff,” she murmured. “Please, don’t put stock in the stuff Britta says, it’s Britta, you hate her therapizing crap,” she pointed out.<br/>
“Okay, so you don’t have daddy issues and just want the approval of an older man?” He asked, his hackles rising a little. Annie groaned.<br/>
“Yes Jeff, I have father issues, in fact, I have parent issues, neither of my parents think I’m worth a damn, and don’t support me, but just because you’re an older man who I’m attracted to, doesn’t mean I think of you as my father,” she hissed. “You have worse daddy issues than I do, buster,” She added.<br/>
“Do not,” He mumbled.<br/>
“Britta spoke to me in the kitchen earlier and told me all about how you just say whatever you want to get what you want, or what your dick wants, because you can’t commit to anything, because your father left you, is that true now too?” Annie asked, her face pink and Jeff couldn’t tell if that was post sex anymore or anger.<br/>
“Of course it isn’t, you know you mean more to me than sex,” Jeff rebutted.<br/>
“And you should know that I don’t think of you as my dad, forgodssakes I thought we were past all this crap,” She said. “Anything else in your wheelhouse?” She asked. Jeff paused, considering just leaving it there, but he knew (from past experiences) that it would just stew, and it would burst out of him in the worst ways. And Annie was teaching him to be better at this stuff, she deserved for him to be better at this stuff.<br/>
“So, you’re not just going to find a young, hot guy instead someday once you’ve worked through any daddy issues?” He asked softly, feeling more vulnerable and kind of tired now. Annie’s face, thankfully, softened, as she seemed to take this as less of an attack and more of Jeff’s insecurities coming out to play.<br/>
“As long as you’re not going to trade me in for an older woman who can drink an actual martini rather than an appletini,” She smiled softly, stroking his cheek. Jeff smiled a little.<br/>
“You’re cute,” He murmured.<br/>
“And you’re an idiot,” She chuckled softly. Jeff nodded.<br/>
“Only when you’re involved, you make me stupid,” He said.<br/>
“I don’t know if that screams healthy relationship,” She pointed out.<br/>
“You also make me better,” he whispered, meeting her eyes. “You’re important to me, and…really good for me,” He smiled softly. Annie smiled back, leaning down and kissing his lips.<br/>
“As a rule, we never listen to Britta again,” She said.<br/>
“Agreed,” Jeff nodded. He patted her bum playfully. “I also think we should have sex again in ten minutes so that we can have a better crack at post sex chats,” He grinned. Annie giggled softly.<br/>
“Okay, but I’m taking this off, there’s only so long I can let my organs be crushed,” She chuckled, reaching behind her to begin undoing her bra.<br/>
“Can you keep the heels on?” Jeff asked.<br/>
“You’re ridiculous.”<br/>
“Only when you’re involved.”<br/>
<br/>
 <br/>
<br/>
It was no secret that Jeff enjoyed his own space. He liked living alone, he liked time on his own occasionally, he liked using his semester breaks to get away from his friends and just be by himself.<br/>
They hadn’t woke up beside each other yet. The first time they slept together, Jeff had taken Annie home afterward because Troy and Abed would be suspicious, and it was much of the same excuse any other time. If they were at her place, which was rare, Jeff would have to leave before Troy and Abed came home; if they were at his place, Annie would have to leave to be home in time before Troy and Abed became suspicious.<br/>
It hadn’t bothered him too much, as he enjoyed his space, but now, watching the morning light make Annie’s naked body glow, it was making him change his mind.<br/>
They’d stayed close together all night, Annie’s head rested on Jeff’s chest, his arm slung under her back to rest on her shoulder, and the other hand resting on her knee that was hitched up across his middle. Her hair was splayed across his chest and under his nose, meaning he woke up to the scent of vanilla; and her skin was so soft under his fingers; and her little light breaths were so cute Jeff just watched her for a minute so he could remember it all.<br/>
But then he cleared his throat softly because staring too long would be creepy.<br/>
Annie’s eyes slowly fluttered open and she looked up at Jeff. Her hair was a little crazy from their escapades the night before, her cheeks were a flushed pink and her lips were a little bitten. He leaned forward and pecked her lips gently.<br/>
“Morning,” he whispered.<br/>
“Morning,” Annie whispered back, breaking into a smile. Then her eyes widened comically. “Jeff! We slept in the bed! They’re gunna know-“<br/>
“It’s only seven am, no one is awake yet,” He assured, his voice thick with sleep.<br/>
“But they will be awake soon!” Annie breathed, trying to climb off the bed, but Jeff rolled them so he was lying across her.<br/>
“Give me five more minutes to enjoy you,” he pleaded, kissing her neck softly.<br/>
“Jeff-“<br/>
“Relax baby,” he whispered against her skin, stroking down her side. He felt her and heard her exhale, before she slowly gave in and wrapped her arms around him. Jeff smiled and pulled her close, nuzzling his nose against her neck and jaw line.<br/>
When exactly five minutes had passed, Annie tapped his bicep and kissed his forehead. “Cmon,” She whispered.<br/>
Jeff sighed and slowly got up. He pulled on his pyjamas from the night before and watched Annie pull back on her pyjamas too. He reached over and brushed his fingers through her hair to try and tame it down a little and Annie smiled adoringly up at him.<br/>
“Wanna meet up again tonight?” She asked softly. He nodded.<br/>
“Or before then, if we can,” he grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. Annie chuckled and pet his chest, pecking his lips.<br/>
“Don’t be greedy,” She smirked.<br/>
“This weekend was supposed to be my opportunity to be greedy,” He pointed out. Annie shook her head fondly and pet his chest once more before walking out of the room. Jeff stayed back for a moment, making sure he’d grabbed everything from the room, before sneaking back down the hall too. Shirley wasn’t awake when he got to the room, so he quietly began to climb into bed. He noticed the little Jesus statue was facing his bed and he frowned, and slowly turned it to face Shirley, before closing his eyes and falling back to sleep.<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
Annie and Abed were the first two downstairs. Annie made them both a coffee, and they sat by the fireplace.<br/>
“We should have a fire tonight,” Abed nodded. Annie smiled brightly.<br/>
“Yeah that would be nice, I’ll go look for firewood today,” She nodded.<br/>
“Jeff should go with you,” Abed said. Annie frowned over the rim of her mug.<br/>
“Why’s that?” She asked.<br/>
“Because you two haven’t had private time yet, and the audience likes the tension of the will they won’t they scenarios,” He explained. Annie smiled a little.<br/>
“Whatever you say,” She hummed.<br/>
“Although I think you’re seeing someone,” He added. Annie’s eyebrows came together.<br/>
“Why?” She asked again.<br/>
“Because you’re really happy, and chirpy, and you’ve been making pancakes again, and you just seem…” he trailed off. “Relaxed, whoever this is must be good for you,” he smiled fondly. Annie couldn’t help but smile back.<br/>
“Yeah I… I think he is,” She said. She couldn’t lie to Abed, but she didn’t have to tell him the whole truth.<br/>
“Is he ‘the one’?” He asked. Annie scoffed.<br/>
“Bit too early to tell, but we’re happy,” She shrugged.<br/>
“Will we get to meet him?” He asked.<br/>
“Soon,” Annie nodded.<br/>
“Is it Jeff?” He asked. Annie bit her bottom lip, going to answer in some form.<br/>
“Am I what?” Jeff’s voice came from behind them, as he sauntered into the room. His hair was sleep rumpled and his shirt was a little crushed. Annie couldn’t help but think he looked cute.<br/>
“Annie’s boyfriend,” Abed answered, and Annie cringed.<br/>
“Annie has a boyfriend?” Jeff frowned, and Annie wanted to laugh because he sounded so jealous, even though he <em>was</em> her boyfriend.<br/>
“Uh…Yeah, kinda,” Annie squeaked. Jeff frowned, nodding stiffly.<br/>
“Cool,” he mumbled before going to the kitchen. Abed frowned.<br/>
“Hm… I really thought it was Jeff,” He said. “I guess those signs were just bate and switches,” He sighed. “The audience might be disappointed, but I guess it depends on how happy this guy keeps making you.”<br/>
“Yeah, I’m going to go…” She gestured to the kitchen, standing up to follow Jeff. “Fix that up,” She sighed. Abed nodded, going back to his mug of tea.<br/>
Annie went into the kitchen and found Jeff making himself coffee with the left over from Annie and Abed’s batch.<br/>
“Hey,” She whispered. “You’re aware that I don’t have a boyfriend right?” She asked.<br/>
Jeff raised an eyebrow. “I know we said it was a weird label but-“<br/>
“I mean, other than you,” Annie chuckled, squeezing his arm. Jeff smiled.<br/>
“Yeah I know, but I had to act the part, Abed would clock on if I didn’t get even a little jealous,” He explained, sipping his coffee. Annie nodded.<br/>
“I hate lying to Abed,” She sighed.<br/>
“We didn’t lie,” He shrugged. “Not to his face, technically,” he said. Annie nodded.<br/>
“Still don’t like it,” She murmured. Jeff smiled softly at her and glanced at the door before kissing her cheek then leaving the room. Annie couldn’t help but do a small squeal. After three months, she didn’t often need to have little moments of ‘giggly airl’ (as she called it), but there were times where she just couldn’t believe her and Jeff had pushed past all the crap and they’d made it here, where they were both really happy.<br/>
She walked back out into the living room, seeing Jeff and Abed arguing over what movie the group should watch today, when a shout from upstairs silenced them.<br/>
“Oh my god!” Shirley cried out. Abed, Annie and Jeff all ran upstairs to see what the problem was. Shirley was stood at the end of the hallway, looking into the empty room. Troy and Britta came stumbling out of their room, Britta still pulling her shirt on and Troy in just his briefs.<br/>
“Did you two do the devil’s sin in this room last night?” Shirley gasped, pointing at Troy and Britta. Annie’s eyes widened and she looked past Shirley’s shoulder and froze. They’d left the sheets all tangled up and unkempt, pillows askew along the bed and the electric fire was still fading out. It was clear someone had been in there the night before.<br/>
“What? No, why would we do that? We’ve got our own bed for that,” Britta frowned, crossing her arms.<br/>
“What-“ Shirley began, eyes wide.<br/>
“Nice one,” Pierce smirked, putting his fist out for Troy. Troy looked at the fist and shook his head. “Whatever,” Pierce grumbled, dropping his fist.<br/>
“Well then who was in there?” Shirley asked. Everyone turned to look at Jeff.<br/>
“What?” Jeff rolled his eyes.<br/>
“Did you bring some floozy in here last night?” Shirley hissed.<br/>
“Of course not, where would I even have met anyone? We’re in the woods!” Jeff groaned, crossing his arms. Everyone turned to look at Abed.<br/>
“That’s incredibly out of character for me,” He said.<br/>
“Not really, you do have a habit of finding cute girls to sweep off their feet and then never seeing them again,” Britta pointed out.<br/>
“Yeah but not really in a sexual way,” Abed shrugged. “It’s more likely to be Pierce than me,” he added.<br/>
Everyone looked at Pierce, who smirked and went to answer, but Annie cut him off with a sharp little gasp.<br/>
“Why is Pierce more likely than me?” She shouted, crossing her arms. She was so over this sort of treatment, in the last twenty four hours she’d been more annoyed by her friends than ever before, and she hated it. “I could have had some floozy in there with me,” She stamped her foot indignantly.<br/>
“Aw, pumpkin, of course you could, but you wouldn’t have because, well, that’s not really you…You’re a good girl,” Shirley cooed, stroking Annie’s hair.<br/>
“I’m a woman, Shirley,” Annie snapped. “And if I had had someone in there with me, that wouldn’t make me less good,” She pointed out.<br/>
“So you did have a floozy in there? A female floozy?” Pierce’s eyes widened and he was smirking a little.<br/>
“No, men can be floozy’s,” Annie sighed.<br/>
“You had a man in there?” Troy asked, with wide eyes. “Like an actual man?”<br/>
“Why is that so hard to believe?” Annie groaned.<br/>
“Well, you have a boyfriend,” Abed pointed out.<br/>
“What?” Everyone shouted, excluding Jeff, who was stood at the back of the group making apologetic eyes at Annie. Annie glared at Abed.<br/>
“What? I figured that would help your case. And it was also the reason I said Pierce was more likely to have been in there, instead of you, because unless your boyfriend came with us, you’re not the cheating type,” Abed explained.<br/>
“You have a boyfriend?” Shirley asked. Annie sighed, rubbing her face and then nodded. “Since when?” She asked.<br/>
“Since the inspector spacetime exhibit…we met at the hotel there,” She murmured. Annie could see all the inquisitive looks on her friends faces, and she could see the fake anger and disappointment on Jeff’s. She sighed. “You have two minutes to ask questions, and I reserve the right not to answer,” She decided, crossing her arms.<br/>
“Is he from Greendale?” Troy asked. “Is it Fat Neil?”<br/>
“Yes, and no,” Annie answered.<br/>
“So we’ve met him?” Abed continued.<br/>
“Maybe,” Annie shrugged.<br/>
“Is it Rich?” Jeff piped up. Annie tried not to smirk, thinking she could really play with Jeff here, but she chose not to. She knew he was doing this to ward off suspicion.<br/>
“No,” She shook her head.<br/>
“Is he good in bed?” Britta spoke up too.<br/>
“Oh, Annie wouldn’t know about that, would you sweetie?” Shirley crooned. Annie felt the anger begin to build up again, and she usually wouldn’t answer such a personal question, but she bunched up her fists and grit her teeth.<br/>
“Yep, he’s the best I’ve ever had,” She answered. Even Jeff couldn’t hide his surprise at her answer, his eyebrows shooting up his forehead. Annie knew she’d regret that stroke to his ego later, but the look of shock on everyone’s face was worth that.<br/>
“Meaning you’ve had more-“ Shirley began but Jeff’s jealousy clearly couldn’t hear that because he interrupted again.<br/>
“Okay, how about we stop talking about Annie’s sex life now?” He grumbled.<br/>
“Yeah, it’s not nearly as important as figuring out who actually used the room,” Abed nodded, walking past Shirley and stepping into the room to look around. Troy followed, looking at the sheets, his eyes glinting in delight. “Maybe this cabin is haunted!” He grinned.<br/>
“Would explain the noises I heard last night,” Annie nodded, jumping on the bandwagon to get the scent far away from even considering her and Jeff. “I heard talking and gasping,” She said.<br/>
“Definitely haunted!” Troy nodded.<br/>
“Great, well now that we’ve sorted that out, I’m going to finish my coffee,” Jeff mumbled, turning and marching off. Annie figured he was still pretending to be jealous. The group slowly followed him, closing the door to the room behind them. Annie pouted to herself when she realised there was no way her and Jeff could sneak off tonight now, everyone would be on the look out.<br/>
It had snowed through the evening so the ground outside was dusted with frost and mounds of snow. The study group had breakfast, and Abed put on The Polar Express, insisting that while the visuals were terrifying, it was an underrated Christmas movie. Annie went up to her room and pulled on her warmest clothing and boots, before coming back downstairs.<br/>
“I’m going to go get firewood for tonight,” She announced, pulling a beanie on over her hair. “Jeff, would you come help? You can carry more than me,” She asked. Jeff groaned, tossing his head back like that was the worst thing in the world.<br/>
“Annie it’s freezing outside,” He sighed.<br/>
“Put on a sweater and a jacket,” She insisted. “Please?” She stuck out her bottom lip a bit, eyes fluttering just a touch. Jeff sighed and Annie bit back a grin in triumph, she knew he’d give in.<br/>
“Fine, but only because I don’t want you to be eaten by a bear or something,” He mumbled, walking to the stairs to go pull a jacket on.<br/>
“Pierce, go with them,” Britta said.<br/>
“What? Why?” Annie asked with a frown.<br/>
“No, she’s right, a real man should come along, you’ll need at least two alpha males to carry all that wood,” Pierce nodded. “Although you’d know about carrying wood wouldn’t you Jeff?”<br/>
“Doesn’t make sense in the way you think it does Pierce,” Jeff called from upstairs, before reemerging with a leather jacket on. Annie’s heart skipped a beat and she bit her bottom lip.<br/>
“I meant you’re gay,” Pierce explained. Jeff rolled his eyes and Annie did too.<br/>
“Abed, didn’t you say Jeff and I should go together? You know, alone?” She asked.<br/>
“Yes but that was when I thought there was still a chance for will they, won’t they. But since you’re taken, you won’t be, so I don’t think it matters that Pierce comes,” Abed shrugged. Annie nodded half-heartedly.<br/>
“Great,” she squeaked.<br/>
Annie led Jeff and Pierce out into the wood behind their cabin. There were a few other cabins in the woods, the smaller ones dotted around and Annie wondered if her and Jeff would have been in one of those if the group hadn’t arrived and taken over. The reception building was at the front of the wood and was disappearing into the distance as they went deeper.<br/>
Her, Jeff and Pierce picked up tree branches and sticks as they lumbered around. The snow was slowing them down a bit but as they went into the thicker parts of the wood, the trees had blocked a lot of the fall, until the snow was only just dusting the ground.<br/>
Pierce and Jeff were arguing about what to do if a bear actually came along, but Annie was mostly blocking it out.<br/>
“Oh my god neither of you would be able to fight off a bear,” Annie eventually groaned, turning to look at the two of them. Jeff had been right behind her and she caught his eyes looking at her bum just as she turned around. She raised an eyebrow at him and then smirked as she looked over at Pierce.<br/>
“Pierce, why don’t you take your pile back?” Annie sighed.<br/>
“Trying to get rid of me?” Pierce snapped.<br/>
“What? No, I just thought you could go back and get the fire started, since <em>you’re</em> such a strong man and all,” She smiled fondly at him. Pierce puffed up his chest a little.<br/>
“Yeah, yeah you’re right, I could start a fire better than Jeff,” He nodded. “You guys come back when you’ve actually got a decent pile,” he snarled, turning around and heading back towards the house.<br/>
Jeff watched Pierce go for a second before looking back at Annie. “You realise he’s going to burn the house down,” He said. Annie shrugged.<br/>
“Let them burn,” She mumbled, turning back around. Jeff whistled.<br/>
“You’re pissed, aren’t you?” He chuckled softly, walking closer to her.<br/>
“Yeah, I am,” She sighed. “And I want you to fuck me right here in the wood,” She decided, putting the sticks down. Jeff dropped his own sticks, shock clear on his face. Annie had been pretty forward about when she wanted them to have sex, but she'd never said 'I want you to fuck me' before, and she couldn't help but smirk a little at the way Jeff had gone a little slack-jawed. <br/>
“What?” He chuckled.<br/>
“You, me, sex in the wood, now,” She nodded, crossing her arms defiantly.<br/>
“Annie,” He chuckled fondly. “The group won’t even know we’re doing it,” he pointed out.<br/>
“Yeah, but I’ll know, and I need to feel like a woman right now,” She sighed. “They all treat me like a teenager, Troy thought I was scared by his penis last night, and they all couldn’t believe that I could be having sex with a man today,” She shook her head. “I’m a woman,” She repeated.<br/>
“<em>I’ll say,</em>” Jeff breathed, looking her up and down. Annie smiled and strode forward, stroking her hands along his biceps, tracing the indents of the leather jacket, before sliding her hands under it, stroking his abs and his chest.<br/>
“And you, are certainly all man,” She breathed with a purr, looking up at him through her eyelashes, "I love this jacket on you." <br/>
“You’re really trying to get in my good books today, first you say I’m the best you’ve ever had and now this,” He chuckled, though his voice was a touch deeper and his hands slid down to grip her hips. Annie smiled. She had him.<br/>
“Jeff, I’m always in your good books,” She pointed out, beginning to unbutton his shirt. He reached up and grabbed her wrists.<br/>
“I am totally down for a bit of public indecency, especially when your ass in those leggings have been teasing me all morning,” He purred, “However, it’s freezing right now, we’re doing this with clothes on,” he added.<br/>
Annie huffed. She stepped back and pulled her parka off, revealing her white sweater. He was right, it was freezing, but it would have the desired effect. Her nipples hardened quickly, the pink peaks clearly visible through the material even with a camisole on underneath; she hadn’t bothered with a bra today since she’d worn so many layers. “Warm me up then,” She smirked.<br/>
“God I should get the group to piss you off more often,” he breathed, pressing her against a tree and kissing her hard. Annie moaned and kissed him back, tangling her fingers in his hair. Jeff went to tug at her hair, her beanie slipping off her head. Jeff quickly pulled back and picked it up, slipping it back on her head. Annie raised her eyebrow.<br/>
“You look cute in it,” he shrugged. Annie sighed.<br/>
“Going for womanly remember?” She pointed out.<br/>
“One of the things I find most womanly about you is how cute and sexy you are at the same time,” He said. “I’ve never noticed that with anyone,” he promised.<br/>
Annie licked her pink lips. Her heart was thundering in her chest. When Jeff said things like that, her mind naturally just began to wonder…<br/>
Her thoughts were cut off though when she heard yelling in the distance.<br/>
“Okay we gotta do this quick,” She breathed.<br/>
“Annie-“<br/>
“Jeff Please,” she begged in that whiny, breathless way she knew would get what she wanted. Jeff looked over his shoulder then sighed.<br/>
“God you’re going to kill me,” He breathed, then began to tug her leggings down so she could step out of them.<br/>
She immediately wrapped her arms around his shoulders and Jeff picked her up under her thighs, keeping her against the tree. Annie wrapped her legs around him, the two both moaning as their crotches came together. Jeff kissed her hard, lining himself up and then pushing inside.<br/>
“Fuck, Jeff,” Annie whimpered.<br/>
“Annie,” Jeff moaned her name in return. She slid her hands under his jacket again, and up the back of his sweater, her nails digging into his back. Jeff gasped.<br/>
Annie knew she should be cold, and her hard nipples scraping against the leather of his jacket proved that she was on some level, but her body felt feverish. Everywhere Jeff touched felt like she was being lit on fire, and as he slammed in and out of her she felt like she was boiling from the inside out in the most pleasurable of ways. “Oh Annie, baby, you’re so good, I’m gunna…” Jeff gasped, their foreheads pressed together and their hot breaths mingling  as they panted. Annie whimpered and nodded, she could feel her pleasure building too. “Annie, you’re so hot, hottest goddamn woman I’ve ever been with,” He groaned out and that was it for Annie.<br/>
She clenched around Jeff, coming hard as soon as he said the word woman, and she whimpered when she felt him empty inside her too. They didn’t do it without a condom often, really only when spur of the moment quickies happened like this, and Annie was on the pill so it wasn’t anything too risky. They stayed pressed against the tree together for a moment more, panting softly and holding onto each other. Annie turned her head just slightly, feeling boneless and spent. Jeff turned his head too, and their lips met in the middle for a kiss that was sweeter and more tender then it should have been since they’d just finished having sex in the woods. Jeff seemed to realise this too and he chuckled breathlessly against her lips, Annie following suit. She reached up and stroked his face gently, their eyes gazing into each others.<br/>
“Annie, I-“ But Jeff was cut off by footsteps coming closer and closer. “Annie! Jeff!” Britta’s voice was calling out to them.<br/>
“That woman is on a mission to make this difficult,” Jeff growled out, but the two quickly pulled apart and Jeff helped Annie quickly get redressed. They scooped up their sticks and Jeff ran off to another part of the wood, so it wouldn’t look like they’d even been alone together.<br/>
Annie turned around and smiled at Britta when she came up to her. “Hey Britta,” She gritted. She knew her face would be flushed, it always was after sex, but she could chalk that up to the cold probably.<br/>
“Where’s Jeff?” Britta asked, looking around. Annie shrugged.<br/>
“Don’t know, he and Pierce had an argument about who could beat a bear and then they both charged off,” She lied, her voice a touch high.<br/>
“You’ve got twigs in your hair,” Britta pointed out, raising an eyebrow. Annie swallowed.<br/>
“Yeah I fell,” She lied again without missing a beat. She chuckled and reached up to pull a twig out of her hair. “I’ve got quite a pile here and I should get cleaned up, want to go back to the cabin?” She asked. Britta paused for a moment, looking around before nodding.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
The group spent the day lazing around the fire, watching Christmas movies and eating snacks and left over pasta bake from the night before. Jeff might have found it really pleasant if only he’d rather have been doing this with just Annie, preferably naked. Annie and Jeff happened to end up next to each other on the couch, meaning while the movie was on, Jeff managed to press his hand next to her thigh and stroke very small circles with his thumb. They were really starting to push it, and Jeff was sure that soon they’d get caught. They’d said they’d wait until graduation, but Jeff didn’t think they’d make it to that - and to be honest maybe he wouldn’t mind.<br/>
He wasn’t expecting the study group to take it well. In fact, he was expecting them to take it horribly. He was expecting to lose his friends which brought out the worst of his anxiety, and made him want to drink for a month straight.<br/>
But he also knew Annie didn’t deserve to have to hide her relationship. And he knew he cared about her enough that if the study group gave them a hard time, he’d end things if that would make her happier again.<br/>
He knew it would make him miserable, but he’d do anything to keep her happy.<br/>
He figured that probably meant something about how deep his feelings for her really went, but he didn’t want to open that door - that only meant it would hurt more if he had to inevitably leave her.<br/>
As the sun set the group began to discuss what they should do about dinner. Shirley complained that they didn’t have any good ingredients in the house because no one had thought to buy food. They’d eaten the left over pasta bake, and there wasn’t really any take out nearby, so they decided to dress up and go to the restaurant and bar in the reception building.<br/>
Jeff pulled on a cobalt blue button up that he knew Annie loved, along with some dress pants, his leather jacket and boots. He styled his hair so that it looked effortless - like he hadn’t touched it at all - and put on Annie’s favourite cologne too.<br/>
He was the last person ready and downstairs, the group all groaning about how long he’d taken.<br/>
“It takes time to look this good guys,” Jeff pointed out, before his eyes landed on Annie. She was about to pull on a coat for the walk to the reception building, but he managed to see the tight, strapless red dress she was wearing. It hugged all his favourite parts of her and made her blue eyes shine.<br/>
He felt breathless. He almost told her so out-loud before he remembered all their friends were there. He pulled out his phone.<br/>
Jeff: <em>You look gorgeous.</em><br/>
He watched Annie reach into her coat pocket and pull out her phone, poorly concealing her smile as she read the message.<br/>
Annie: <em>Thank you. You look gorgeous too x</em><br/>
Jeff read it and practically beamed, pocketing his phone again.<br/>
The group walked along the path to the reception building, thankful the path itself wasn’t covered in snow. It wasn’t a long walk, but they were all shivering once they got to the building, moaning at the heating inside as they came in. They took off their coats and hung them by the door, before walking to a booth. “I’ll get first round of drinks,” Jeff said, walking up to the bar and ordering everyone their respective drinks. When he came back he slid into the booth, sitting next to Abed and across from Annie and Britta.<br/>
They’d been at the restaurant for two hours when Jeff started to feel the effects of the scotch. They’d had dinner, and were up to round six of drinks, and he couldn’t stop watching Annie, and how she laughed at Troy’s jokes, and how her cheeks were flushed and it went all the way down to her breasts which were pushed up in that dress. God he wanted to get that dress on the floor of his bedroom, he thought it would look really nice there. Annie looked over at him and he could see the hungry look in her eyes as she sipped her Appletini. His mind began to reel as he tried to think of excuses for getting her back to the cabin alone. “Guys!” Britta’s voice cut him from his brainstorm, and he looked up to see her standing at the entrance to the booth, a blonde woman with bright green eyes and puffy pink lips standing next to her. “This is Emily, we met up at the bar,” She introduced. “She said she’s here for a work conference and is on her own, so I thought I’d invite her over to hang with us,” She chirped. Everyone seemed very confused by this, including Jeff. They weren’t usually the most inclusive of groups. “Emily, this is Annie, my boyfriend Troy, Pierce, Shirley, Abed, and Jeff, who you should sit next to,” Britta smiled, ushering Emily into the booth next to Jeff, before mouthing just to him, “You’re welcome.”<br/>
Well, shit.<br/>
He supposed Emily would be his type if he was single, he wasn’t sure why Britta was playing matchmaker all of a sudden but he also knew the group would act suspicious if he didn’t at least act somewhat flirty. It made him feel sick. How far were they going to have to go to keep this a secret? He tried to catch Annie’s eyes to ask her permission, almost, but she was looking at her nails as if it was the most important thing in the world right now. The rest of the group had gone back to talking with each other, but he could feel Britta’s eyes on him. He sighed and looked at Emily, who was looking at him expectantly. Britta must have said he’d be interested or something. “Hi, how are you?” He greeted simply.<br/>
“Good, good, you guys seem like a fun group, I’ve been watching you from over there,” She smiled, pointing to where she’d been sat at the bar.<br/>
“Oh well aren’t we lucky?” He smiled charmingly. Emily giggled softly.<br/>
His heart panged as he noticed Annie slide out of the booth from the corner of his eye, and go up to the bar. He made small talk with Emily for a few moments more, before he noticed Annie sit down next to some guy at the bar. His stomach curdled. “What are you drinking?” He asked Emily. Emily looked at her half full glass.<br/>
“Oh uh, just the house wine,” She nodded.<br/>
“Let me get you another one,” Jeff said, sliding out over her.<br/>
“Oh I don’t need-“<br/>
But Jeff stopped listening as he pushed through people and went over to the bar, thankful that it was busy so the group wouldn’t see or hear he and Annie have this discussion right now.<br/>
“What are you doing?” He asked, getting her attention away from the guy she was chatting to.<br/>
“Oh just making new friends, you seem to be doing the same,” Annie sniped, tilting her head at the booth.<br/>
“Annie c’mon, you know if I didn’t talk to her Britta would know something was up,” He sighed.<br/>
“I get that Jeff, but what you’re doing isn’t just talking, it’s clearly flirting,” She said, crossing her arms.<br/>
“Well you coming up here to actually flirt, without the group even noticing, is totally different,” He frowned, “You’re just doing this to upset me.”<br/>
“Hey, buddy, we were actually having a conversation here,” The guy Annie had been talking to interrupted, standing up to stand beside Annie. “How about you quit bothering her?”<br/>
“I’m not actually interested, sorry, thank you for the drink, and the chat, but I’ve got a boyfriend,” Annie sighed. The guy looked shocked and annoyed for a moment, looking between the two. He shook his head, annoyed. “Bitch,” he grumbled as he began to walk away.<br/>
Jeff grabbed the guy’s shoulder.<br/>
“What was that?” He growled, towering over him.<br/>
“Jeff, leave it,” Annie quickly jumped up, grabbing Jeff’s arm.<br/>
“I bought her a drink,” The guy hissed.<br/>
“That doesn’t mean anything you prick,” Jeff growled. “You don’t get to talk about her like that,” He spat.<br/>
“Jeff what’s going on?” Britta’s voice was suddenly at his side. He turned his head slightly and saw the whole study group had assembled beside Annie, Emily also standing with them.<br/>
“Jeff, please leave it,” Annie whispered, tugging his arm.<br/>
“You’re way too old for her buddy, though I guess you probably like that, bet she’s nice and passive in bed, makes you feel so fuckin powerful-“ the guy slurred, but he didn’t get further because Jeff’s fist came up and smacked the guy across his jaw. The guy tumbled back.<br/>
“Jeff!” Annie’s voice gasped out in shock, but he didn’t hear anything else, blood was rushing in his ears.<br/>
“I told you not to talk about her like that!” Jeff shouted.<br/>
“All of you out!” Security was suddenly marching over. Jeff sighed and immediately put his hand on the small of Annie’s back, leading her outside back into the snow, grabbing her coat but forgetting his own, his adrenaline was keeping him too hot for a coat. The study group was following behind them.<br/>
“Jeff what was that?” Shirley asked as Jeff slid Annie’s coat around her.<br/>
“You really got him!” Troy smirked.<br/>
“That’s because of our great fighting lessons,” Pierce nodded.<br/>
Jeff stopped and took a deep breath, looking down at Annie. “Thank you,” She whispered, looking up at him. Jeff felt himself calming down just from her gaze as she squeezed his wrist, but he still felt hot, and angry, and so frustrated that the weekend had gone like this.<br/>
“Well, since we got kicked out of there how about we head into town? Or Jeff, do you want to take Emily back to the cabin-“ Britta began. Jeff’s anger boiled over, Annie’s calming presence be damned.<br/>
“Britta! Quit it, I’m not interested,” He spat.<br/>
“Yeah, stop trying to get him to do the devil’s sins in our cabin,” Shirley piped up.<br/>
“I was just trying to be a good friend! Figured she’d be your flavour of the month!”<br/>
“There is no flavour of the month!” Jeff groaned. <br/>
“Oh please Winger, since when?” Britta rolled her eyes.<br/>
“Since I’m in love with Annie!” He yelled.<br/>
He felt like he was going to pass out. He was halfway drunk, he was pumping with adrenaline from punching a guy, and now, all of his friends were looking at him in shock, and in disappointment. He felt his mouth go dry. He’d just said that out-loud, to his friends, who didn’t know about him and Annie yet, and he’d just said that to Annie, for the first time ever.<br/>
He looked at her, hoping to see love back, but she was just looking at the ground.<br/>
Jeff felt his stomach plummet. He’d imagined all the ways he’d tell her this if he ever plucked up the courage, all the times he’d almost said it in the last twenty four hours alone, all the times he’d almost said it while he was buried deep inside her and she looked at him like he meant everything to her -<br/>
And in all of those fantasies, she always said it back. He’d never thought she’d look embarrassed for him.<br/>
Jeff felt like running. He felt like he needed to get out, get away. So he did.<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
Britta watched Jeff turn and march away from them all, charging back towards their cabin. She could still hear his words in her head.<br/>
<em>I’m in love with Annie.</em><br/>
He was in love? They weren’t just screwing around? Or maybe they were and now he was scrambling to keep Annie around since she’d been flirting with that guy at the bar - Britta had watched him go over there and completely ignore Emily.<br/>
Annie seemed to snap out of her daze. “Jeff!” She called out to his figure that had disappeared into the darkness. She groaned and rubbed her face.<br/>
“Why did he say he was in love with you?” Emily piped up from beside Britta, who had actually forgotten she was there. “I thought he was single?” She asked.<br/>
“Well, he’s not, see ya,” Annie snapped, before turning and going to the cabin herself, chasing after Jeff.<br/>
“Wait so…” Troy pondered. “Annie’s secret boyfriend was-“<br/>
“Jeff, yeah, I thought that might be the case. I wasn’t sure if maybe it was another twist, but now I’m sure, they must have been secretly dating,” Abed explained. Britta shook her head.<br/>
“They can’t have been. Annie wouldn’t want that,” Britta said firmly, her stomach twisting and making her feel nauseous. “Annie would want to be shown off, she’d want everyone to know she had a boyfriend, she wouldn’t want to be a secret,” she continued, feeling like she was in some weird form of denial that Jeff could actually care about Annie.<br/>
“Not necessarily, Annie probably knew we’d all react this way, she probably wanted to keep it a secret too,” Abed nodded.<br/>
“Oh my lord let’s just go talk to her,” Shirley sighed, pushing past them and following Annie to the cabin.<br/>
They all followed after her, coming into the cabin and seeing Annie pacing in the living room on her phone. “…I’m sorry okay? I was just…panicking, and I’m not going to say it back in a voicemail right now okay so please just…come home,” Annie was pleading. “It’s dark and snowing outside and there’s bears, I just want to make sure you’re safe,” She continued, before hanging up when she noticed everyone staring at her. She sniffled and wiped her eyes then stood up a little straighter, as if preparing for battle. “Jeff and I are dating,” She nodded. Britta rolled her eyes and shook her head, and she could see Shirley doing the same. She missed Troy, Abed and Pierce’s reaction, but she knew getting mad at Annie wouldn’t change anything. They just had to help her see sense.<br/>
“Annie, this isn’t what you want, I know it’s what he’s made you think you want, but it isn’t. I’ve been in this situation-“<br/>
“Britta, what was between you and Jeff is very different to what’s between him and I,” Annie said firmly, and <em>ouch.</em><br/>
“No, I meant I’ve dated jerks like him before. And Jeff counts as one of them. He’s not even decent enough to admit that what we did was called dating. The bad boy thing can look real appealing at first, but it never works out, he’ll get bored and soon you’ll be <em>‘reading too much into things,’</em> remember that?” She pointed out, crossing her arms.<br/>
"Men are monsters who crave young flesh," Pierce prattled. Annie swallowed, and Britta saw her bottom lip wobble a little.<br/>
“Jeff and I have discussed that and he’s apologised,” She said, sounding firmer than she looked.<br/>
“Yeah, because like I said last night, he’ll say whatever to get what he wants,” Britta argued.<br/>
“Britta we weren’t even sleeping together when he apologised for that,” Annie insisted.<br/>
“Oh but I bet it wasn’t long afterwards,” Shirley intervened. Annie groaned and rubbed her face.<br/>
“Oh my god, I’m an adult!” She yelled. “I can make my own decisions, I’m not a kid like you all like to treat me, and Jeff is not an asshole like you all treat him. Think about it, who here is more protective of me than Jeff? Who here is more mindful of my feelings, and monitors his behaviour accordingly?” She pointed out. Britta swallowed. She knew the answer, and she couldn’t think of an argument against it. “He defended me against Simmons at the debate, he defended me against Annie Kim, he was protective about me dating Vaughn-“<br/>
“Oh please, that was mostly jealousy,” Shirley snorted, and Britta was glad she knew how to argue these points because she’d lost her voice somehow.<br/>
“Doesn’t matter! Tonight, that guy at the bar called me a bitch because he bought me a drink and I said I wasn’t interested. Jeff immediately defended me, he punched the guy!” She shouted louder. “He protects me, he loves-“ She cut herself off as her voice caught and tears sprung to her eyes again. She wiped them quickly and sighed softly.<br/>
“Does the age gap not bother you?” Troy piped up. Annie shook her head.<br/>
“Does the age gap between you and Britta bother you?” She asked. Britta’s heart dropped. She’d never even thought about it like that. Of course, Jeff was a few years older than her, but there wasn’t much of a difference. The group was silent for a moment, it seemed like no one had considered this either.<br/>
Suddenly, Abed walked over to Annie’s side, and a part of Britta wished that they were dating. They’d be so much cuter in her eyes.<br/>
Maybe this wasn’t about protecting Annie at all - maybe this had always been a personal issue that she hadn’t wanted to think about.<br/>
“Guys, it’s been clear for a long time how these two feel about each other, even to me, and I can’t read faces or emotions at all. I think we should give them the benefit of the doubt,” He said.<br/>
“But…Annie,” Shirley began. “We just don’t want you to get hurt sweetie, that man isn’t exactly the commitment type,” She said.<br/>
“Shirley, I think if we all really thought about it, if Jeff and Annie ended things, it would be Jeff that would be the most hurt,” Abed pointed out.<br/>
Britta didn’t think she could feel anymore guilty. They all looked even more shocked than before.<br/>
Of course, Annie was strong, Annie was tough, Annie had already been through so much, and she could definitely get through a possible heartbreak.<br/>
Jeff on the other hand…<br/>
“Oh God I gotta go find him,” Annie breathed, and it seemed like maybe she hadn’t thought of that either, as she turned on her heel and charged out the back door of the cabin into the woods.<br/>
Britta immediately followed Annie, taking out her phone to light the way. “Britta I really don’t want to hear it anymore-“ Annie began, her voice trembling.<br/>
“No, no I’m here to help you look,” Britta promised. It was silent for a moment as the two walked deeper into the woods. Britta tightened her grip on her phone every time Annie called out Jeff’s name, sounding so scared. “Annie, I knew about you and Jeff,” She confessed. Annie stopped and turned to look at her, confusion clear on her face. “I saw you two in the study room the other day, and I heard Jeff say he’d planned this weekend away…I got pissed and got the study group here to gatecrash,” She continued. Annie rubbed her temples slowly.<br/>
“Why?” She sighed. “Why do you have such a problem with this?”<br/>
“I don’t really know but,” Britta paused. “I think I’m jealous.”<br/>
Annie’s eyes widened.<br/>
“You still want to be with Jeff? But what about Troy?”<br/>
“God no, not like that, this isn’t high school,” Britta shook her head. “I mean…jealous that you were able to change Jeff Winger of all people. For all the times I’ve tried to make him a better person, I’ve tried to coax him into talking to me about his feelings so I can fix him, it never worked.”<br/>
“Britta that’s the point. I’ve never tried to change Jeff, not really. I’ve helped him with his morals, but it’s stuff he already knows. He knows right from wrong, he just hasn’t had anyone tell him he has to follow the right path before,” Annie explained. “And I’m there for him even when he makes the wrong choices. And I’ve told him I’m not going to be there to be his conscience every time, and now he’s a good person not just because of me, but because of all of us at Greendale.”<br/>
Britta nodded slowly. The explanation made sense, but there was still more to it. “I think it’s also just been hard not to feel like I’m…inferior, when every man I’ve dated recently ends up wanting you instead,” She added. “Vaughn, even Troy for a bit, and now Jeff,” she listed.<br/>
Annie sighed. “Britta, they don’t want me instead, they just…I don’t know, happen to end up liking me sometimes,” She shrugged. “But that doesn’t mean they disregard their time with you. Jeff really likes you. Obviously not in the way he likes me-“<br/>
“Loves you,” Britta couldn’t help but interrupt, her smile slowly coming back. Annie’s face went pink.<br/>
“Loves me, but I know that he really cares about you,” She promised. “It’s no competition, and I promise, if Jeff and I don’t work out, I’ll never go for your exes again,” She couldn’t help but chuckle a little. And Britta laughed softly too.<br/>
“I’m sorry for ruining your weekend,” Britta sighed. Annie shrugged.<br/>
“I just want to find Jeff,” She sighed, turning back around and continuing to go into the wood.<br/>
“He does know how to have a drama doesn’t he?” Britta snorted.<br/>
“He knows how to make me worry,” Annie sighed. They continued to walk further into the wood, Britta’s light guiding their way.<br/>
They’d been walking for nearly twenty minutes when they saw a hand resting in the snow. As Britta panned her light up, they realised it was Jeff, lying in the snow, blood trickling down his head.<br/>
“Oh my god,” Annie whimpered, dropping to her knees beside him. Britta almost dropped her phone, but Annie quickly added, “He’s breathing, he’s just knocked out, help me carry him,” She pleaded. Britta was going to argue, but then she put her phone in her mouth and helped her pick him up - she owed them anyway.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
Annie let out a big pant of air as she and Britta got closer to the cabin. She could only assume pure adrenaline was coursing through her veins and that’s how she was able to carry Jeff so far with only Britta’s help. As they reached the back porch, Britta dropped Jeff’s legs, turning to face the cabin.<br/>
“Help us!” She yelled.<br/>
Troy was the first one outside, his eyes wide with panic that seemed to settle when he saw Britta. Annie couldn’t help a little smile at that. They were sweet together, she was happy for them. Troy, Abed and Pierce all rushed down and scooped Jeff up, but Annie gripped onto Jeff’s hand, not letting go as they all carried him into the cabin.<br/>
“Oh lord,” Shirley’s eyes were wide when they came inside, the guys putting Jeff down on the couch.<br/>
“He needs blankets, and I need a warm, wet cloth,” Annie instructed, sitting down beside the couch on the floor. Shirley came back a minute later with piles of blankets, and she and Britta began to wrap Jeff in them, making sure he was warm. Shirley then handed Annie the wet cloth and Annie began to dab at the blood coming down his face, trying to find the wound. She eventually found it in his hair line and was relieved to see it wasn’t deep, it was just a scrape.<br/>
Annie looked up at the group who were all standing behind the couch, watching her. She took a deep breath. “Before he wakes up you all need to get over any worries or concerns you have,” She said firmly. “Jeff cares about me, but he also cares so much about all of you. Remember what happened the last time he thought he was losing all of us?” She pointed out, her hands trembling a little at the memory of Jeff bursting into the study room swinging an axe. The others all seemed to have a similar reaction, looking down at the floor or shaking their heads. “I understand that you guys want to make sure I’m okay, but I promise you, I’m so happy, and I can look after myself,” She assured, “And if you want to look after me, then you need to think about how much it’ll hurt me if Jeff feels like he has to leave me to make all of you happy, and to make me happy.”<br/>
They all looked between each other. Annie knew Jeff, she knew if the group didn’t accept them, then he’d end things so that Annie wouldn’t lose her friends. Selfish though he may be, Jeff was selfless when it came to Annie.<br/>
And the group seemed to all realise this at the same time. “I support you guys, I’ve been waiting for this for so long, so has the audience,” Abed nodded.<br/>
“Me too, I’m happy for you both,” Britta nodded.<br/>
“If he makes you happy, that’s cool with me,” Troy smiled.<br/>
“I’m just glad this now means we can all start dating younger without judgement,” Pierce chirped, making everyone wrinkle their faces. Annie looked to Shirley, who was still frowning a little.<br/>
“Shirley?” Annie breathed. Shirley sighed, then walked closer and took Annie’s free hand, gripping it tighter than Annie expected.<br/>
“You break that man’s fragile heart, and I’ll bring the Lord’s wrath down on you,” She said lowly. Annie couldn’t help but smile in relief, before nodded.<br/>
“Consider me warned, but I won’t be breaking his heart if I can help it,” Annie assured. Shirley nodded, before breaking into a small smile.<br/>
“Wha…” A slurred voice came from the couch and Annie looked back at Jeff, whose eyes were starting to open slowly. Annie gasped in relief and continued wiping at the wound gently.<br/>
“Hey handsome,” Annie whispered with a soft smile.<br/>
“Oh that’s nice,” Shirley chirped. “Cmon, lets give the love birds their private reunion,” She said, ushering everyone out, except they didn’t really leave, they all just stood in the kitchen and watched them. “But remember you two, the Lord is watching, so I wouldn’t do anything on that couch-“<br/>
“Don’t worry Shirley, we won’t,” Annie interrupted, not taking her eyes off Jeff’s face, watching as he looked around dazedly.<br/>
“What’s going on?” He muttered.<br/>
“I was hoping you could tell me,” Annie chuckled softly. “Found you lying knocked out in the woods, did you actually take on a bear?” She teased.<br/>
Jeff smiled weakly. “I think…I tripped and hit my head on a tree,” He murmured.<br/>
“That would explain this nasty scrape,” Annie sighed, wiping at the wound some more gently.<br/>
“What? A scrape, on my face? No!” Jeff’s eyes widened and he looked so panicked Annie couldn’t help but laugh and lean forward and kiss him deeply, clutching his collar. Jeff seemed to relax, sliding his hands down to hold Annie’s back.<br/>
“I love you too, by the way,” Annie whispered against his lips. “But if you ever make me worry like that again, I’ll kick your ass,” She warned.<br/>
Jeff beamed, kissing her again. He looked so relieved. “You love me?” He asked very quietly. “But…Back at the bar-“<br/>
“I was shocked, about what happened at the bar, and about what you said. And you said it in front of all our friends, I didn’t know what to say,” Annie explained, stroking his cheek. “But of course I do, I love you so much,” She promised.<br/>
Jeff smiled, stroking her hair behind her ear. His smile slowly faded however, and he looked sad and worried.<br/>
“The group…how did they take it?” He whispered.<br/>
“Jeff, Annie and I carried you all the way out of the woods!” Britta called from the kitchen, coming charging back in. “Without any help from a man! We just used our pure womanly strength!”<br/>
Jeff’s face brightened a little, and Annie couldn’t help but smile with him. “Oh did you now?” He smirked. “I’m all muscle, I’m surprised you managed.”<br/>
“Well, you may have a very frozen ass for a while, it dragged through the snow a lot,” Annie giggled softly.<br/>
“Jeff, did you come across a bear?” Troy asked as he and Abed walked in too.<br/>
“Yeah did you fight him off and wear his skin like in <em>The Revenant</em>?” Abed asked. “Or did you come across some undercover spy lair and they had to wipe your memory?” He added.<br/>
“Well if they did they were successful because I don’t remember a spy lair,” Jeff drawled.<br/>
“Interesting,” Abed quipped.<br/>
“Maybe it was the ghost of this house that knocked you out!” Troy added again, practically hopping foot to foot.<br/>
“There’s no ghost,” Annie chuckled. “That was me with some floozy,” Annie smirked, pinching Jeff’s side.<br/>
“Are you two going to be unbearable now?” Shirley sighed. “I don’t want to hear about it. Even if I support this, I will never support sinning outside of marriage.”<br/>
“Try to just keep thinking of it as sweet young love,” Jeff pointed out.<br/>
“Because you’re dating Annie you’re young now?” Britta asked, crossing her arms with a smirk.<br/>
“Shut up Britta!” Jeff rolled his eyes, grabbing Annie’s hand that pinched him and tangling their fingers together.<br/>
“Are we all allowed to mess around in that room now?” Pierce asked, to which everyone shouted out a resounding No.<br/>
“Still want their support?” Annie asked Jeff quietly while their friends kept arguing. Jeff smiled up at her, stroking his thumb over her hand.<br/>
“As long as I’ve got you,” he whispered, thoroughly defying her expectations.</p>
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